News wants to be free

The death of NBC news anchor Tim Russert on June 13 was reported on Wikipedia 38 minutes after it happened. This was also 38 minutes before it was officially reported by NBC’s Tom Brokaw.

The traditional news agencies have a tradition of not reporting things like this before the family can be notified. Citizen journalists on the web have no such tradition. If something noteworthy occurs it will find its way quickly and inexorably into public view on the internet.

The person responsible for the Wikipedia update was fired. I’m sure this isn’t the first time somebody with good journalistic instincts and bad bosses has been canned for this sort of thing, just as I’m sure it won’t be the last. Nevertheless, no matter how tightly the traditional keepers of the news try to control that news, the news will get free.