Twitter

So as the world is coming to discover, one of the major players in news distribution is twitter.

Around the world people are tweeting and what this has created on the world wide web is a literal web of information.
When breaking news hits, the first people on the ground are no longer reporters and photographers. It is the ordinary people with their cell phone cameras and internet access taking pictures and tweeting.

Want the low down on a local restaurant? Check out their twitter feed.
Example : http://twitter.com/ninetenlajolla

Want to know what your favorite author is up to? Check out their tweet.
Example : http://twitter.com/neilhimself

It's news at the ground level and although the above examples are specific to a business and an individual, when disaster strikes you can get in on the ground level just by linking around the twittersphere by their trending topics.

If the purpose of the news is to report objectively but we are all worried about the monetarily backed news television skewing reporting then perhaps conglomerate news is outdated and it's time it went the way of the dodo anyhow. What does a twit have to gain by their reporting. Ratings? Money? Or just the satisfaction of informing the public.

Oh and now that I've blogged this... I'm tweeting about it.