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Socially Branded Journalism: Crossing the Generational Divide

Written by: Jon Hansen

Article Overview: On February 27th, 1968 Walter Cronkite closed his broadcast by introducing “an analysis that must be speculative, personal, [and] subjective.” He was of course talking about the Vietnam War, and in particular the Tet offensive. While those of us who have not yet cracked the half century mark in terms of years on this planet may have only a general awareness of what history has told us was a “police action” that could not be won, Cronkite’s words created a ripple effect that unknowingly and ironically has come to symbolize our fast paced, 7/24 instant access social media world.

Socially Branded Journalism: Crossing the Generational Divide

On February 27th, 1968 Walter Cronkite closed his broadcast by introducing “an analysis that must be speculative, personal, [and] subjective.”

He was of course talking about the Vietnam War, and in particular the Tet offensive.

While those of us who have not yet cracked the half century mark in terms of years on this planet may have only a general awareness of what history has told us was a “police action” that could not be won, Cronkite’s words created a ripple effect that unknowingly and ironically has come to symbolize our fast paced, 7/24 instant access social media world.

Prior to that late February broadcast, news reporters did just that . . . report the news, or in the famous words of Sargent Joe Friday, “just the facts.”

When Cronkite “overtly and figuratively stepped out from behind the microphone to add his personal commentary to the news,” wrote Lee Cary in the July 18th, 2009 American Thinker, “Cronkite issued an implicit license to his journalistic colleagues to interject personal opinions into their factual reporting of the news.” But unlike Cronkite, who “clearly labeled it as personal opinion,” Cary laments that “many MSM news personalities today weave their opinions into reporting,” perhaps in the process unintentionally obfuscating facts through a lens of personal viewpoint. This of course is the hallmark of today’s social media and the “personal branding” phenomenon that provides everyone with at least 15 minutes of fame (or longer).

Personality, according to Future Buzz’s Adam Singer, is what is woefully lacking from the traditional mainstream’s highly polished and professional looking blogs. But is there a balance? Can the factual recounting of world events be offered through a medium of personal ideas and ideals and still be considered reliable news?

Recent FTC decisions to hold bloggers accountable for what they write, as well as announcing a series of roundtable discussions and workshops for early December asking the question “How will journalism survive the Internet Age” would seem to indicate that this is an issue for which there are no easy or immediate answers.

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Article Tags: american thinker, broadcast news, hallmark, instant access, joe friday, laments, news reporters, personal commentary, personal ideas, personal opinion, personal viewpoint, police action, reliable news, ripple effect, rsquo, sargent, tet offensive, traditional mainstream, vietnam war, walter cronkite



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