Yesterday Techcrunch verified a rumor that was started by an ex-Techcrunch writer. Terrific! According to Mike Arrington, ‚ÄúThe information we have is that the deal is now under a binding term sheet and will close in 2-3 weeks, and there is nothing that can really derail it at this point.‚Äù So now we have to wait 2-3 weeks to determine whether or not this rumor is true and in the meantime the stock market can figure out what they want to do with this info. While $100 million is practically a drop in the bucket for Google it is still significant. Bloggers are now carrying a lot more weight in the media domain and need to be much more careful with verifying sources, as recognized in last week’s Engadget iPhone slip up. While today’s rumor probably won’t have any significant sway on Google’s stock it still helps bring to light the issue of bloggers and their increasing need to maintain journalistic integrity. In this case I’m sure Mike Arrington verified his sources prior to publishing the article given the recency of the Engadget article.
I’m going to keep this post short as I have a feeling there is going to be a fair amount to write about Facebook once they make their press release today.
May 24th, 2007
2 Responses to “Bloggers Are Playing With Fire”
May 24th, 2007 at 10:57 am
Why just bloggers? Why should anyone use an anonymous source? How would the public interest be hurt if no information came out until there was an informal annoucement?
May 24th, 2007 at 11:12 am
Hi Alice,
Why just bloggers? – Well anybody that is posting information without verifying their source probably shouldn’t be doing it.
Why should anyone use an anonymous source? If you have a high up source but want to protect their privacy and their job, you won’t release their information. Just because you aren’t publishing their name doesn’t mean you don’t have accurate info. Hopefully this answers your question.
How would the public interest be hurt if no information came out until there was an informal announcement? It wouldn’t be. Did I suggest this?
Ultimately my point is that as bloggers gain increase their reputation as a go to source for timely information, the integrity of their postings become increasingly important.