Real Journalism

  https://www.facebook.com/reel/1604596821004799

I've alluded to this elsewhere, but wanted to make the point clear.  The above clip is posted by a guy named Lou Raguse.  Lou is an investigative reporter for KARE 11, the NBC affiliate in MSP.   Now, by any definition (including Dan's) Lou is a "real journalist" and KARE 11 is a "real journalism news outlet".  

So what happens to that "real news" when Lou of KARE decide to post a  reporter covering a story on a social media platform, or several social media platforms?  Obviously "real news outlets" thrive on numbers.  Viewership numbers drive ad revenue, which pays for the news coverage.  So, Lou and KARE decide that if they post stories on other platforms, maybe more people will see the stories and be drawn to watch the KARE news broadcasts.   

So, then we have Dan.  Dan sees that the link starts with "X" or "facebook" and immediately dismisses the content as not "real journalism", based solely on the platform that the link comes from.  But, does reporting a legit news story on a social media platform somehow make that report less "real journalism" than when it airs on the 6:00 news broadcast?   Does Lou magically lots his "real journalist" credentials when he does a reel or social media post containing the same information as the "real news" broadcast?  As someone once said, "The media is the message", and Dan seems to think that certain media invalidate the message and render the information not "real journalism".  Why would "real journalist" work product be diminished in value or newsworthiness simply because they did the reporting on some sort of new medium?   

 I can't believe that  the same discussion wasn't brewing back when that newfangled medium of television came around and all of a sudden the "real journalists" at newspapers had competition.  Or when 24 hour cable news came on the scene and the "real journalists" of the Big three networks and the newspapers complained about the new medium.  

News is news, reporting is reporting, Truth is Truth, accuracy is accuracy, no matter where is ends up,