UPDATE: Poynter’s Steve Myers has an update of his original post that’s addressed to Bercovici and is worth reading:
If anything, the Quran burning story shows the impact of Journalism 1.0, not 2.0. This news was carried through legacy distribution channels. The student was not a citizen journalist or a blogger, but a stringer who was asked to report on the event for a wire service. And far from being a “one-man brand,” the stringer’s name wasn’t even on the story, which he told me was substantially edited.
As for the student going against the flow to seek attention, you assume incorrectly. Andrew Ford, the student, told me that the Miami bureau chief for AFP received the press release and asked him to cover the “trial” and burning. Ford had covered some of the events at the church last fall, so they already had a relationship.
Hey, I thought I was the only one who would come back with a Journalism 1.0 reference. Here's my response, which corrects a key assumption in Bercovici's post.
http://blogs.forbes.com/jeffbercovici/2011/04/07/when-journalism-2-0-kills/#comment-3398
#1 Posted by Steve Myers, CJR on Thu 7 Apr 2011 at 03:59 PM
Nice comment on the Forbes blog Mr. Myers.
AFP is a French-owned wire service with a massive international presence. They have bureaus on every continent -- in every region and almost every major country. They are no small operation and are as traditional a news wire service as you can get. Nationally, they have bureaus in Washington, two reporters at the White House, several for Congress, one at State, one at the Pentagon, they have a bureau in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, which is a small part of their world-wide operation. Their major audiences are throughout Asia, Europe, and Africa.
You can be absolutely certain that this story was not only assigned, but went through the desk editor. AFP, as I said a long-established international wire news agency, thought the story was worth reporting for its international audience. They aren't beholden to the rightwing "liberal bias" nutcases that the AP and American media caters to.
So Mr. Bercovici embarrasses himself with this Journalism 2.0 stuff. AFP is as traditionally old-style journalism as you can get. Forbes should, once again be embarrassed to employ someone like Bercovici, who, from what I've read of his work, is too lazy to do any research before spouting off on a given subject and is utterly indifferent to facts and accuracy.
#2 Posted by James, CJR on Thu 7 Apr 2011 at 04:51 PM
...Oh, okay. You did the update while I was commenting.
I'll note again that AFP is a French-owned agency and their news judgment goes to their international audience. They don't take "suggestions" from Poynter or CJR as to what they report to their international audience, and I doubt they'd be inclined to participate in a news "blackout" the way American media seems inclined to do. Which is why I use them as my major source of hard news. They have a terrific little blackberry personal news wire app for those who like their hard news straight up, without the cutesy little soft anecdotal lede that AP has adopted trying to be breezy and hip, with their editorial mixed in with their facts.
#3 Posted by James, CJR on Thu 7 Apr 2011 at 05:03 PM