What, what, where, when, how…

What, what, where, when, how…
: Ross Mayfield gives us an eloquently succinct summary of the new methods of getting (and giving) news:

We often pride ourselves as bloggers for how we break news, dig deep, gain sources, carry the story and highlight the details of fast moving events. However, with complex unfolding news, I find myself turning to different outlets for different reasons. We aren’t the best at coverage, we just have a special blend….

Press

Who: Editorial voice

What: Official sources

When: Episodic

Where: Coverage permits

Why: Profit

Blog

Who: Individual voice

What: Opinionated sources

When: Interest piques

Where: Anywhere conversations

Why: Pride

Wiki

Who: Group voice

What: Balanced synthesis

When: Evolving

Where: Common space

Why: Co-creation

That’s a good analysis. But he also says this:

Turn to Press for the official record, Blog for social context and Wiki for the public record.

I will disagree pretty strongly with that last bit.

I don’t go to the press for the official record (I can go to the web for that now). I go to the press — if they’re doing their job — for (as some students at an NYU class said to me yesterday) for succinct writing and good reporting among multiple sources.

I go to weblogs for far more than social context, far more. I go to weblogs to edit the web for me and point me to the best of the press. Weblogs are now my first stop; they are my gateway to the press.

And wikis are new to news but I look forward to seeing how they can improve the presentation of news; they have great potential.

Ross gives examples of each through the tragic lense of the Madrid story: press coverage, blogs (he linked to boingboing; I linked to Technorati), wiki (which I linked to yesterday).