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BREAKING NEWS & VIEWS
Analysis: Jacko Scoop Sparks TMZ Debate This weekend, while fans mourned their superstar, journalists and media critics were wringing their hands over the possible passing of journalism as we know it. Formed four years ago at AOL and led by journalist and lawyer Harry Levin, TMZ helped launch AOL’s new strategy to create scores of tightly targeted niche brands using the blog format. The celebrity gossip brand spawned a successful syndicated TV show, and TMZ quickly achieved dubious fame as the source of embarrassing footage, images and audio of unguarded celebrity moments. It often pays for tips and multimedia, and the site’s recent publishing of police evidence surrounding the domestic assault of singer Rihanna caused a legal firestorm. TMZ reported Jackson’s death a hour before the L.A. Times, but many mainstream outlets cited the Times without crediting TMZ’s scoop. By that time, many onliners were already getting the news of Jackson’s death from Twitter and Drudge Report linkage to TMZ. Apparently, the rest of the media world wasn’t buying what a news outlet owned by a major media conglomerate was selling. In fact, TMZ had owned the story all Thursday afternoon, as they were reporting details of the emergency call of paramedics to the Jackson house and his cardiac arrest. This raises questions all around about how news stories are confirmed, cited, credited and sourced in this age where everyone is a journalist and news easily circumvents the usual mass media channels to come directly to users through blogs and micro-blogs. This weekend the L.A. Times mused that the Jackson death would be a “turning point for TMZ” in getting more journalistic credibility. The New York Times took it as an occasion to give back-handed credit to the “carnivorous celebrity news Web site” for being ahead of the story but perhaps practicing questionable tactics in getting the scoop. Likewise, ABCNews frames this story as a debate over tabloid tactics. One British news organization went to the trouble of assembling a timeline and other reporting to deduce that TMZ had “guessed” Jackson’s death. And the battle is joined. TechCrunch is quick to argue that the mainstream offline press is having a defensive reaction to being scooped. Jackson’s death sparks old media anxiety about the authority and speed of new media, but in fact there isn’t a lot that is new here. TMZ is classic tabloid journalism by digital means. Mainstream media reticence to accept TMZ reporting as fact is similar to those same outlets doubting the veracity of National Enquirer stories about John Edwards' extra-marital affair last year. It is the messenger, not the medium, that is being questioned. The real-time and direct nature of the Internet did force news organizations to scramble, but cable news had introduced that element into news years ago. If anything, the Internet gave a dead-tree-and-ink brand like the L.A. Times the opportunity to compete and scoop TV rivals CNN, E! and MSNBC. Their Web site and its vast network of feeds gave “old media” a means to reach outside of L.A., outside of print cycles that wasn’t available even a decade ago. As for mainstream media whining about TMZ’s dubious tactics and credibility, it ignores the wisdom of the crowd that was evidenced last Friday. Many people may have heard first about Jackson’s demise from TMZ, Drudge and Twitter links, but the massive traffic that followed went to the mainstream press. In other words, TMZ’s reporting was likely consigned to “rumor” status by most readers, and they naturally sought confirmation from sources they did trust. This is not a story about the lost authority of old media. This is a story about the new complexity of news consumption. Users are consulting multiple sources, making judgments about credibility, seeking corroboration. We’re all aggregators now. The media's sniping about TMZ is an effort to fight the last war over which brand emerges triumphant. It misses the point. Old media continues to pursue some kind of ancient media brand loyalty model that their users haven’t actually practiced in many years. If you have breaking news to share please contact Steve Smith at ssmith@accessintel.com |
 Manager, Digital Media, NCC Media
PR Director, The Knot Inc. Online Digital Ad Sales Executive, eMedTV Media Jobs | Job Alerts | Post Your Resume min Social Networks
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