Jumping the gun to present something entirely speculative as “news” is surely priceless. But that’s the difference between doing research and copy/paste blogging.
So Yahoo denied the allegations of closing down the bookmarking service Del.icio.us by issuing this press release.
The summary of it is, that the service – and associated Delicious.com web site – aren’t closing down. Yahoo might sell it in the future or spin it back into its own entity, just the way it was or the way Flickr is.
When presenting breaking news, ample research is needed for the sake of one’s audience and readers and for the sake of their own worth as a processor of information, or else a source can easily lose its validity; an important element for the next round of reviews or commentary.
Even when one performs ample research, their sources might be untrustworthy.
That’s why it is important to evaluate every source of information accurately and objectively, lest it becomes yet another array of WikiLeaks type of random cables, bearing a very loose connection and validation of content.
Unfortunately this is one of the downsides of the fall of print/old media. Newspapers and TV reporters (of course being paid to) always researched their stories to verify the facts before publishing them. Today’s independent ‘news’ bloggers and wanna be reporters, are more interested in being ‘the first to report’, than having ‘accurate facts to report’! Accuracy be damned, it’s now about ‘traffic and eyeballs’!
Great summary, Kevin. At least, verification of information should be practiced by the recipients of it. Although, the traditional press wasn’t always accurate or in full disclosure. Happy Holidays!