'New Media' Influencing Electing, Rapidly Changing, Journalists Tell National Press...

'New Media' Influencing Electing, Rapidly Changing, Journalists Tell National
Press Club Forum

WASHINGTON, Sept. 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Changes in new media are
happening so quickly that Facebook may already be passe as a news medium in
this presidential campaign, experts on changing news technology told a
National Press Club forum Monday.

Twittering is rapidly growing.

"I think we are in the post-Facebook phase," said Ana Marie Cox, who founded
the influential political blog, "Wonkette," and now is the Washington editor
of Time.com. "The medium that best expresses the moment we are in politically
is not Facebook, but Twitter."

Cox was speaking at a National Press Club Centennial Forum on "Blogging, the
Campaign, and the Future of Journalism." Co-sponsored by West Virginia
University, the forum was connected by satellite to a university auditorium at
Morgantown, W.Va., where students could watch and ask questions.

Twitter is text messaging through mobile phones, e-mail or the Internet.
People can subscribe to a journalist's Twitter and receive real-time messages
as events unfold. Each Twitter can be no more than 140 characters.

During the forum at least two journalists in the audience Twittered what the
panelists were saying.

Blogs and social networking Internet sites had a big impact on the primary
campaigns, the panel agreed.

"The primaries, especially on the Democratic side, were driven by online media
and blogs, which have a great deal of influence in liberal politics," said Tom
Rosentiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism. "The use of
YouTube was important to Obama in particular," he said.

But in the general election, the panelists said, the new media may be less
influential, as candidates compete for the attention of voters who are not
activists and who may not be as technologically tuned in.

"While bloggers may contribute to circulating rumors to a larger audience, the
medium is self-correcting," said Michael Tomasky, editor of
GuardianAmerica.com. Blog readers are quick to correct false information,
especially on blogs that have a lot of traffic.

"There is some wisdom of crowds," he said. "Readers pick blogs that are good
and they rise to the top."

But Internet technology that allows editors to count the number of readers for
every story and that pushes stories to the top of Google searches is changing
journalism, the panelists said.

"The Internet is driving journalism toward a more
give-the-audience-what-they-want model," said Ross Douthat, a senior editor of
the Atlantic Monthly who blogs for TheAtlantic.com.

For the West Virginia University students watching the forum, Rosenstiel
offered this encouragement: "Students today are going to invent the next
journalism."

Video highlights of this forum are posted to the National Press Club's Web
site: www.press.org.

The NPC Centennial Forums program is sponsored by Aviva USA, one of the
nation's fastest-growing life insurers (www.AvivaUSA.com). In addition, the
company is funding the production and distribution of 12,000 DVD copies of the
Century of Headlines documentary and supplemental education materials.

Tom Godlasky, chief executive officer - Aviva North America, said, "Our
partnership with the National Press Club is based on shared values and a
belief that the First Amendment, freedom of speech and professional journalism
are fundamental to democracy, personal freedom and free enterprise."

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Gil Klein - National Press Club Centennial Project director, 703-338-2721.
E-mail gklein@press.org.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL PRESS CLUB:
The National Press Club is the world's leading professional
organization for journalists. Founded in 1908, the Club has 3,500
members representing most major news organizations. Each year, the Club holds
more than 2,000 events including news conferences, luncheons and panels, and
more than 250,000 guests come through its doors.

SOURCE National Press Club

Gil Klein of the National Press Club, +1-703-338-2721, gklein@press.org