Front-page Tweets: Who Cares?

The Boston Globe made news of sorts this week by printing tweets on its storied front page.

Problem is, few probably noticed and those who did likely mistrusted the story. That analysis is based on surveys by the Pew Research Center, which has found:

1 — Most Americans in 2016 are getting their election news from cable TV news, followed by social media, local TV, news websites or their apps, radio, and network nightly news shows. National print newspapers rank near the bottom of all news sources, just below late night comedy shows.

That’s not particularly funny for an industry whose health is updated by a site called newspaperdeathwatch.com.

2 — More than six in 10 Americans see the national news media as having a negative impact on the country. The pollsters at Gallup have also found that only four in 10 Americans have confidence in the mass media to report the news “fully, accurately and fairly.”

So while embattled Twitter’s stockholders might be pleased, the Globe’s inclusion of tweets from the campaign trail probably doesn’t amount to much. Twitter is already considered an essential news source and sounding board. Speaking of Boston, Harvard University has looked hard at the local police’s effective use of Twitter after the 2013 marathon bombing.

While journalists routinely use Twitter, so do politicians, corporations, and all sorts of organizations. Indeed, social media — for better or worse — has enabled newsmakers to skip by reporters and make their case directly to their target audiences. And of course anyone with a smartphone and internet access can become an instant critic.

That’s a big change for reporters who came of age at a time when they could tell complainers to “buy an ad” or write a letter to the editor if they didn’t like their stories.

Surveys aside, voters and consumers should beware, for newsmakers skilled in the art of using social media now make their pitch or defend their actions without any filter between themselves and the people they want to reach.

Journalists can of course watch and weigh in on items that get traction. They do, all the time. Now they’re even reprinting tweets on the front page.

If the ideal is a more informed electorate, has social media helped or hurt? What does the future hold for print newspapers? Journalism in general? Would love your thoughts.