TMZ and Twitter Scoop CNN, Again
When new media outlets broke the recent, tragic and untimely deaths of two young celebrities, Brittany Murphy and Chris Henry, many traditional news outlets were slow to respond, prompting an incredulous public to initially dismiss the headlines as hoaxes. 
The News Chronicle reported that until "credible" news sources like Fox and CNN covered Murphy's death, the story was considered a rumor. Celebrity website, TMZ.com, broke the news about the 32 year old actress' death and was also credited with breaking the news of Michael Jackson's death earlier this year. TMZ is owned by Time Warner Inc, the same company that owns CNN. CNN's first Tweet on Murphy's death was almost 10 hours after TMZ's initial post which read, "Brittany Murphy Dies: Filed under: R.I.P., Exclusives, Brittany Murphy Brittany Murphy died early this morning after s...."
Celebrity headlines provide great fuel for gossip among friends on social media platforms but they are also speeding access to world events like the Mumbai hotel attacks and elevating local news stories to national attention quickly, like the recent murder of four Lakewood, Washington police officers. The dynamic blend of citizen journalists, nosy neighbors, and paid paparazzi seems to be just what appeals to consumers. This new shift is unsettling for traditional media outlets which say they have continued to hold themselves to a higher standard than paying for tips or reporting on rumor.
In a contest that will create the ultimate hybrid journalist-neighbor-paparazzi, MySpace recently announced its second annual “MySpace Citizen Journalist” program in partnership with The Wall Street Journal and the World Economic Forum, sending one MySpace user to the world’s most prestigious conference, the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2010 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland to file photos and reports. A panel made up mainly of executives from the partner companies will select the winner, although MySpace users can rate entrants.
Follow Technorati