Journalists Get Left Out By Social Media

Posted by Mitch Wagner on July 10, 2009 10:48 AM

When Sarah Palin resigned as governor of Alaska, she gave a cursory announcement to journalists, then moved on to tell her story directly to her supporters using Twitter and Facebook. This is the latest example of traditional journalists being disintermediated by government and other newsmakers, and it will make a big difference in the careers of IT managers (and me too, as a journalist).

Mashable has the rundown:

Sarah Palin yesterday announced her plans to resign from the role of Governor of Alaska, leaving the press clueless as to why. Does she plan to retire from politics completely, or is she preparing to make a 2012 presidential bid? Palin is talking to no one…except Twitter and Facebook. In fact, Palin used her Facebook page to criticize the mainstream media for their treatment of her.

The press appears somewhat frustrated by the decision, with the AP producing a full-length article today discussing the governor’s most recent Tweets, including: “Lots of celebration of Independence & Alaska’s 50th Anniversary of Statehood.” It was only thanks to Twitter that the media knows where Palin was today, the Associated Press adds – she was at the Juneau Fourth of July parade. Her spokesman wasn’t aware of her plans, say reports.

This is a big part of the social media revolution: Government agencies and other newsmakers have an opportunity to talk directly to their supporters in a way that was nearly impossible before. Until now, if you wanted to get a story out to the public, you had to find the ear of a willing journalist and get him to tell it for you. Now, you can go on a blog, or Twitter or Facebook, and tell it yourself. We're seeing this in the embattled New York State Senate, the U.S. Defense Department, and elsewhere in government.

This will have huge, long-term changes in the way that government communicates with its constituents. IT managers and public affairs officers are going to have to learn to speak directly to their constituents, in plain English and not bureaucratese—sometimes a difficult task for government employees who haven't, until now, been used to talking to the public.

This'll change my job, and the job of other journalists too. Until now, journalists had a monopoly on access to officials. They could simply pass along what government and other newsmakers were telling them. Now, the public doesn't need journalists to get those messages, so journalists have to dig deeper, providing background, perspective, and letting the public know who's lying.



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