As a final to caveat to this miniseries on the evolution of investigative journalism and the newfound power of bloggers and others that are carrying on a proud legacy, I’d like to highlight what happened to United Airlines last Monday when an erroneous report of the company’s bankruptcy hit the Wall Street rumor mill.
On the morning of September 8, a reporter performing a routine Google search at a Florida investor information service found a bombshell on the South Florida Sun-Sentinel Website. According to the piece, United Airlines was filing for bankruptcy and planning to cut costs by 20 percent. As he’d probably done thousands of times before, he wrote up and published a quick story for online subscribers to Income Securities Advisor. Within minutes, the news hit The Street.
The only problem: The story that the South Florida Sun-Sentinel ran on Monday morning was six years old. United wasn’t filing for bankruptcy. In fact, the embattled airline had emerged from its bankruptcy a few years prior and was on the comeback trail.
Within hours, United stock lost more than 25 percent of its value – to the point that the NASDAQ actually had to halt trading.
What does this have to do with citizen journalist bloggers you ask? It’s a lesson in the power and speed of the Internet; and a reminder that with great power, comes great responsibility.
In an environment in which speed trumps factual reporting – as it sometimes does in the blogosphere – the potential for a repeat of the United debacle is undeniable. And if bloggers want to maintain the coveted journalist status they’ve worked so hard to establish, then being fair, being factual, and being aware of the fallout that a single post can generate is going to have to come before being first.
Today, lives and liberty are in bloggers hands – just as they’ve been in the hands of traditional reporters for the past half-century. If the torch is being passed, then so are the ideals of journalistic integrity upon which our free press system thrives.
Bloggers have earned our respect – and our trust, to a certain extent. If they are going to keep them, then they must soberly accept the responsibility that accompanies the power they now wield.
I’m looking forward to continuing this conversation with the thousands of citizen journalists that will be attending the BlogWorld Expo in Las Vegas this weekend.
See all of you on Saturday.
Richard Levick, Esq., CEO and President of Levick Strategic Communications, represents countries and companies on the highest-stakes global crises and litigation. His firm has directed the media on the spinach, pet food, and toy recalls; Guantanamo Bay; the Catholic Church scandals; and the largest international regulatory matters and multinational mergers.
