Reflection 39 of 52: Are direct quotes disappearing?
September 29, 2014
Often, the first place I hear or see big news stories is on Twitter or FB. The Gates Foundation $50 million contribution to the Ebola outbreak popped out to me in a tweet. Most media seemed to quote the tweet from the Foundation or Bill Gates.
Makes sense for
them to tweet out news when you consider Mr. Gates has 17.5 M followers and the
Foundation 1.28 M followers. Of course, media follow them as well as interested
parties.
It also makes
sense that media quote tweets as it is a time saver and they have so little
time or resources anymore. Besides, do they really expect to get Bill Gates on
the phone for a real person quote? Why even the Foundation CEO’s quote comes
from a statement. Lower down in the story you might get a quote from the
Foundation’s head of global development depending upon where the media outlet
ranks in terms of importance.
I see more and
more written statements or emailed responses appearing in stories. I get it.
Corporate execs prefer to control the quotes and not leave their important
messages to be potentially misconstrued or taken out of context. And, there are
times where that makes sense. I completely understand that Bill Gates cannot
spend his entire day talking to reporters.
What does concern
me is the growing trend for spokespeople to hide behind the written words and
not step up and engage. The back and forth between interviewer and spokesperson
makes for a much more interesting, lively and real expression of a point of
view. It may not always be comfortable or pretty but it is authentic and
connects me to the story.
When I see
written statements or quoted tweets, it makes me wonder why I need to subscribe
to that media outlet. I might as well check the organization web site and social
media.
What really
concerns me is the organizations that should not be able to hide behind
carefully crafted commentary when they should stand up and be accountable.
I am a big
proponent of social media but also still a huge supporter of news reporting
from journalists who ask the good, tough questions.
In my mind, a
written statement says a lot about the lack of conviction or belief in a
perspective.
As much as
facing the media can be daunting, it does serve as an external take on the
given topic. We have moved way beyond “he said, she said, we said” journalism
when we lazily accept “he tweeted, they commented, we regurgitated” stories.
I do believe
the pendulum will swing again as people crave expert journalism bringing us
news and events straight from the horse’s mouth.
The quote has not disappeared but it feels like it is evaporating before our very eyes.
The quote has not disappeared but it feels like it is evaporating before our very eyes.
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