From Steve Myers on Poynter, Oct. 7, 2011
Recent news events from Joplin to Tripoli have provided plenty of examples of how news has become a real-time experience, something you observe and discuss as it’s happening rather than waiting hours or days to watch or read.
You may have lost the weekend of August 20 to Andy Carvin’s furious chronicling of the fall of Tripoli. Perhaps you followed along with Brian Stelter as he tweeted his observations and photos of the devastation left by the tornado in Joplin, Mo. Maybe you watched the minute-by-minute drama leading up to the execution of Troy Davis, or read tweets about the East Coast earthquake before you felt it. Earlier this week, it was the helicopter crash in the East River.
Such examples prompted Jeff Jarvis to wonder whether articles sometimes are just byproducts. If we can wade in the stream, what’s the point of a wrap-up article?
Perhaps it is unnecessary for the leading edge of news consumers – news junkies and people in the news industry. But the vast majority of people – anyone whose eyes aren’t locked on a smart phone or laptop screen – still desire for their news to be packaged in some way so they can make sense of what they missed.