Where do you turn for news?
Like a lot of Americans, I was tuned to the cable news networks last Tuesday night as the election results came in. However, I was also monitoring my iPhone Twitter app to see the latest news for my home state. That got me wondering: Where does everyone go for news these days?
Twenty years ago, we would have been watching the major networks for election coverage. Now, I am not even sure they covered the elections except for local elections during commercial breaks. The networks long ago ceded news coverage to Fox News and CNN.
I personally follow Twitter for breaking news. Twitter came of age to me as a legitimate news source on January 15, 2009, when U.S. Airways flight 1549 crash landed into the Hudson River. Twitter user Janis Krums was on a ferry and took the first grainy photo of the jet as it floated on the water. He tweeted the photo and within seconds it went viral before the news channels had the information. I have since created multiple Twitter lists and monitor them for news events ranging from the LeBron James hype, to elections, to following my favorite sporting teams. I rely on it heavily, especially now that I have a smartphone.
Another good source of news is the Flickr photo-sharing service. Back in 2007, terrorists set off bombs in the London subways. Within an hour, amateur photojournalists uploaded photos to Flickr and shared them worldwide. I still go to Flickr for many news events although it is slower to update, obviously, than Twitter. Shuttle launches are especially fun to follow on Flickr.
Facebook is another good source although many news organizations simply update their Facebook page from their Twitter feed.
Where do you get your news information?
