Goodbye inglorious Iran coverage

July 3, 11:23 AMSF News Media ExaminerConor Gallagher

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Remember the election in Iran? Remember the protests? The election was three weeks ago. Protests have weakened. Michael Jackson has since died. And news coverage has silenced dramatically. The only group possibly more relieved than the election thieves in Tehran is the news media because they had no idea what the hell was going on.

Jon Stewart accurately summarized the atrociousness of the coverage in this clip mocking CNN's unverified sources, videos, reports, facts, etc. Basically, they ceased to be a news network.

It was not just CNN either. Web sites of The New York Times, The Guardian in London, The Huffington Post and others ran minute-to-minute blogs that featured unverified videos and random Twitter messages. The New York Times wrote that news organizations "had little choice but to throw open their doors" to undifferentiated sources on the Web.

"First the tweets come, then the pictures, then the Youtube videos, then the wires," said Matthew Weaver, a reporter for the Guardian. "It's extraordinary."

While it may be extraordinary, isn't it still the job of the reporter and the company in the business of providing factual news to make sure it is, in fact, fact?

And CNN uses these videos, "iReports," they call them, even when access to events isn't restricted, as The Daily Show clip demonstrated. It's really a sad attempt to remain relevant and 'connect' with younger viewers. Yet they are essentially partaking in their own downfall, demonstrating their own uselessness. There's no need for reporters if the news programs are going to run videos comments from anyone, "news" I can get from any hipster on a corner wearing a green wristband in support.

CNN posts everything on its iReport.com site, but before showing it on television they vet the piece. Kind of. They contact the person who posted the material and then try to "triangulate the details" by matching them with other 'iReports' in the area.

It's not hard to imagine how this process could be manipulated. Just imagine 15 or 20 members of the Basij Forces sending in reports of protestors acting violently. Maybe they even stage a short video of violent protestors. But there are 15 to 20 reports, therefor the details have been triangulated.

People want the news immediately, but it's important to make sure that the news is fact.

"In journalism," Ellen Goodman said, "there has always been a tension between getting it first and getting it right."

I prefer the latter.