Facebook News Feed: The New Face of Journalism?

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2011/03/04/The_Fourth_Estate_in_a_Digital_Democracy

David Kirkpatrick, author of The Facebook Effect, asserts that the Facebook News Feed is a new form of journalism. Quoting founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Kirkpatrick says, "A squirrel dying in front of your house sometimes matters more to you than people starving in Africa."

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We arguably live in a golden age for news media. Technology has enabled unprecedented access to information. Americans are consuming more news than ever from myriad sources. And as the recent uprisings in the Middle East have dramatized so powerfully, social media have not only opened new channels and driven increased consumption, they've enabled consumers to become creators, citizens to become journalists.

And yet, amid this great democratic flowering of news and access, there are lingering and disturbing doubts about the vitality of the fourth estate. In today's competitive digital media environment, are the news media fulfilling their obligation to be responsible mediators of information and public discourse?

The Paley Center's Media Council has convened prominent journalists from print, broadcast, and digital media; news executives; public officials; journalism entrepreneurs; and media experts to explore this issue in a constructive dialogue. - Paley Center for Media

David Kirkpatrick, longtime senior editor for Internet and technology at Fortune Magazine, has written for two decades about the computer and technology industries, as well as the impact of the Internet on business and society. His book, entitled The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company that is Connecting the World was published by Simon & Schuster in the U.S. June 15, 2010. The book describes Facebook's history and how this newly-dominant Internet force is changing behaviors across societies worldwide.

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[frvfilms]

its sad because he is right,

one of my friends got mad because i would post news not retarded stuff like he did.

[0oz]

The only news I get from my Facebook news feed are cat videos, rehashed quotes, useless garbage about their daily lives (here's a tip: nobody cares), and song lyrics.

[hypnodance]

What a coincidence! I feel the same way about Youtube's recommendations. When I type something like "Sonic the Hedgehog", I don't want to watch videos about supersonic jetfighters, I WANT TO WATCH A GODDAMN CARTOON ABOUT A GODDAMN HEDGEHOG!! >:(

[kaybee31217]

@0oz You want news, look me up on facebook... Tell me who you are when you friend me

[doutonight]

interesting stuff, well said.

[shraka]

@0oz Hmm, that's a problem.

[angelwhite]

@0oz Get better friends.

[ChameleonLost88]

This guy gives Mark Zuckerberg way too much credit. Even most people that use Facebook thinks that Mark Zuckerberg is a jerk. Most people just use Facebook as another way to keep in touch with other people.

[quicksite]

@Roonii82 Well lah-dee-dah. It's additive. It's collaborative filtering. It's not, IN AND OF ITSELF, journalism. But more power to you. Collaborative filtering invented by Patties Mais at MIT Media Lab in, oh, say, 1994, but, wtf, didn't have a business model, so fuck it.. But it's a fucking miracle now, facebook frikking invented it -- & now it's saving the fucking planet. All hail the almighty facebook & all your fucking FRESH PAGES. Wow, you're informed! Fuckin A man, I bet you ACT on it too

[quicksite]

ugh... more decline or western & eastern civilization. THANKS, FACEBOOK !! But gee isn't Mark Zuckerberg swell -- he's a frikkin genius. All Hail Mark Zuckerberg. All Hail Half a Billion Subscribers. All Hail Displacing Google. All Hail Wherever the Pack Leads Us. ... This topic wouldn't event have breathing room if not for fact of U.S. Shitty Journalism® in constant decline for ratifying Press Releases, White House Press Briefings, Race for Scoops vs CONTEXT and genuine. THANKS, shitty USmedia

[Roonii82]

Joining pages and groups of political interest bring fresh news alerts to the newsfeed. The same thing goes for twitter. In the middle east at this very moment, millions of young people are reading lines of news, video clips, and are directed to so many links and provide up to date information. I have over 30 pages and groups in my facebook account that keeps me updated about the revolution in Yemen. Most of the time I get to read breaking news on facebook and the I check the news websites.

[hunterbender]

@frvfilms That sucks. >.< I guess whenever I update facebook status about news, people responds pretty positively. Usually getting into a discussion.

Get better friends? :D