Rick Astley: Where did all the media gatekeepers go?
Last week, I wrote about AP having to correct a report it published saying Jon and Kate Gosselin had been living apart for the last two years. It troubled me to see a news organization that fomed the bedrock of fact-based journalism losing its way for a moment amid the Jon & Kate frenzy and all the enthusiam over the near-instantaneous news cycles made possible with the growth of social media, iReports and Twitter.
I wondered if anyone was acting as gatekeeper in the mainstream media any more. Well, here we go again with the Rick Astley is dead story that swept across cyberspace last night.
The 43-year-old singer who gained online noteriety singing "Never Gonna Give You Up" is not dead. It was just a hoax and a weird replay of the online geeks' game of "Rickrolling" people online. (You click on a link thinking it is going to take you to, say, BBC News,and instead it takes you to a video of Astley singing "Never Gonna Give You Up." Aparently setting up a Rickroll is what passes for a life for some people).
But what matters with this false story -- and all the others about such celebrities as Jeff Goldblum and George Clooney last week in the wake of the real deaths of Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon and Michael Jackson -- is how susceptible we have become to bad information sweeping through our lives.
And it is happening hand in glove with the indiscrimate celebration of social media and Twitter. I have long felt the chance to exploit their lightning speed was going to prove irresistible to some. And I am happy to be called a dinosaur if saying this will help mainstream media professionals think about the larger issues of gatekeeping and responsible dissemination of information even as we embrace and learn to use the new media wisely.
So far, the consensus seems to eb that the Astley report started on CNN's iReports and that what gave it authenticity was a fake AP story in the report. AP certainly bears no blame for someone faking a story and passing it off as authentic. As for CNN, I messaged the cable channel, and am waiting to hear what it has to say.
Last week, I interviewed Lila King, the senior producer in charge of iReports, for a piece in the Sun on how it vets reports out of Iran. Maybe I should have been looking at the vetting process for reports on dead-not dead celebrities.
Comments
This happened to John Hillerman that played Higgins in Magnum P.I. it was rumored that he died and then he had to correct all of that from the online reports. I might be done with Twitter, I just had someone just say I am now following you on Twitter and the link provided takes you to an obscene sight and now I have to try to erase that image from my brain. I'm done out in Cyberspace for the day.
Posted by: Sherry T. | June 30, 2009 12:39 PM
I agree with you about the lack of Gatekeepers out there anymore. It drives me nuts that these things happened. I wonder if someone will sue Twitter for Slander for something like this sooner or later.
Posted by: Tom S. | June 30, 2009 2:00 PM
The reports of his death were greatly exaggerated. Here's an-depth TV report about how it went down: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu_moia-oVI
Okay, after you click on this link, you will see what kind of low lifes (read: Sam Sessa) I work with. I have to admit, it is kind of clever, Sam. But I might have guessed that you'd have just a little Rickroll in you. Did it take long to learn this invaluable skill? Actually, it's one of the best laughs I've had this week. Z
Posted by: Sam Sessa | June 30, 2009 2:04 PM
@Sam - the real link to a real story about it is here: http://bit.ly/News_Entertainment_Astley
Nice try :)
Hi Dave T: Thanks. Please see my comment to my dear friend, Sam Rickroll. And I have to tell you that you, too, are as low as Sam. Z
Posted by: Dave T | June 30, 2009 2:09 PM
Sam, That was great I followed the link. I thought I was headed for a news article. "Apparently setting up a Rickroll is what passes for life for some people". I enjoyed the song though!! That was cute. I'll follow the real link below now.
Posted by: Sherry T. | June 30, 2009 4:12 PM
Okay, this Rickroll thing is getting out of hand. Maybe I will learn to read the blog authors comments before I click on the link. So I got to enjoy the song twice in less than five minutes.
Hi Sherry, I wondered who would have time and inclination to do Rickrolls. Now we know: Sam and Dave -- and I am not talking about the singing duo of the 1960s. This is the price of democracy, Sherry. Kidding. Z
Posted by: Sherry T. | June 30, 2009 4:19 PM
Yeah, I wouldn't even remember that duo I was born in 1961. Sam and Dave will go down in history as the icons of Rickrolling. Z, I love it!
Posted by: Sherry T. | June 30, 2009 4:39 PM
You can't have it both ways, David.
If CNN and AP reported a rickroll as fact, they don't get to blame the Internet, less they just highlight how useless they are at the "gatekeeper" role they seek to claim.
The ugly truth is that the "gatekeepers" have long been conditioned to passing on press releases. Only difference is that now it's harder to tell which 'press release' they're supposed to parrot without question. It gets embarassing when they guess wrong.
Hi, It wasn't a Rickroll, and the facts are more complicated. Please see my latest post with CNN's explanation of what happened. Thanks. Z
Posted by: Church | June 30, 2009 4:58 PM
David, I'm never gonna give you up.
Sam, I decline comment. Z
Posted by: Sam Sessa | June 30, 2009 5:58 PM
That AP, they're never gonna let you down.
Might make you cry, though.
Posted by: Laylah | July 1, 2009 9:27 AM