The last few days have been incredible for so-called “new media.” We witnessed what was really happening in Iran via cell phones and social networking sites. And yesterday, as this LA Times story lays out, TMZ had the Jackson story just 18 minutes after his official time of death.
Incredible.
Just after noon on Thursday, paramedics responded to a 911 call at Jackson’s Holmby Hills mansion. Less than an hour later, TMZ — the same outlet that broke Mel Gibson’s anti-Semitic tirade during a 2006 DUI arrest but that has also feasted on such fare as “upskirt” photos of stars — landed the scoop that the multiplatinum pop singer had gone into cardiac arrest. At 2:44 p.m., it beat rivals by informing the world of his death, which occurred at 2:26 p.m.
In the world of public policy and politics, journalism is also changing. However, the demand for investigative reporting from publications like Carolina Journal is increasing. In this interview, CJ Managing Editor Rick Henderson discusses changes in journalism.