John Naughton, the perceptive new media commentator for The Observer, tackles the uncomfortable subject of what I now call (à la Nick Davies) "digital churnalism". In today's column, How the net's political dirt corrupts mainstream media, he illustrates how journalistic idleness - not to mention journalistic bias - can give legs to wild and false rumours that originate on the net.
Naughton makes his point by showing how reporters followed up some bunkum about a video alleged to show Michelle Obama making a racist statement. He writes:
Welcome to the media ecosystem, in which 'mainstream' media have discovered that their new symbiotic relationship with the blogosphere sucks them into a downward spiral and an underworld of innuendo, lies and propaganda.
Then he explains how to avoid being caught out:
As it happens, there is a way out of the morass, but it requires the application of old-fashioned journalistic skills and values. Or, more prosaically, sceptical, investigative reporting. The fact that something is circulating on the net is not, in itself, news - any more than is the fact that microbes circulate in drinking water.
And he concludes with this simple advice:
If confronted with online rumours, investigate first, report later.
There's no arguing with that.
