Since we had some big news yesterday with Osama Bin Laden’s death, we have decided to focus today’s media and news roundup with stories revolving around this pressing story. We have some analysis on the way investigative technical writers and journalists have covered the story, from utilizing Twitter to the most classic form of news: the front page. We also have the stories of an man who accidentally became a journalist in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and a journalist who has gone missing in Syria.
It’s all the news fit to blog at Ebyline’s Daily Dose.
Osama Bin Laden and the New Ecosystem of News
“As usual, when big news breaks these days — and the death of Osama bin Laden is definitely big news — plenty of people would like to give the credit to Twitter, and use the fact that news broke there first to make the mainstream press look slow and backward. While many traditional media outlets don’t really need any help looking slow and backward, the truth is that this is no longer about Twitter vs. TV or radio or newspapers (if it ever was). It’s about the reality of a new ecosystem of news, one in which the network effects of tools like Twitter and Facebook play an extremely powerful role — and one which can actually help the traditional media, if they will let it.”
Newspaper front pages capture elation, relief that Osama bin Laden was captured, killed
“In the 10th year since the September 11 attacks planned by Osama bin Laden, the terrorist leader has been captured and killed by American forces. The word first spread on Twitter, then on network and cable news.
This morning, the news dominates most front pages, which would have been redesigned starting around 11 p.m. eastern time after bin Laden’s death was confirmed. Many of the front pages use the same photo of bin Laden, but treat it differently with the use of color, bold headlines, type size and placement..”
One Twitter User Reports Live From Osama Bin Laden Raid
“Without knowing what he was doing, Sohaib Athar, a.k.a. @ReallyVirtual, has more or less just live-tweeted the raid in which terrorist Osama bin Laden was killed Sunday.
The IT consultant resides in Abbottabad, the town where bin Laden was found and killed by a U.S. military operation.”
Al Jazeera journalist missing in Syria
“Al Jazeera has demanded immediate information from Syria about one of its journalists who has been missing in the country since Friday afternoon.
Dorothy Parvaz left Doha, Qatar, for Syria on Friday to help cover events currently taking place in the country. However, there has been no contact with the 39-year-old since she disembarked from a Qatar Airways flight in Damascus…”
At the NYT, no paywall exemption for Bin Laden
“When The New York Times announced its pay meter back in March, publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. also announced that — along with the many, many other pores and passages the paper had built into its gate — the Times had built into its new system the ability to open the gate for breaking-news stories that were, essentially, must-reads. “Mr. Sulzberger wanted a flexible system,” the paper reported at the time, “one that would allow the company to adjust the limit on the number of free articles as needed — in the case of a big breaking news event, for example…””
