"Lo han dicho en Twitter"

Time publicó ayer esta foto de un tornado sobre la Estatua de la Libertad. Todo un invento, explica Craig Kanalley. Antes se decía "lo han dicho en la tele" como argumento de autoridad. Ahora es "lo he visto en Twiter". Vadim Lavrusik se remite a los clásicos: "Si tu madre te dice que te quiere, compruébalo igual". No hay caso: mientras dure la tontería 3.0 el papanatismo vencerá al periodismo.

Paul Carr escribía hace poco:

Thanks to the Internet, the traditional news cycle has become a cyclone; a churning, chewing machine that sucks in every fact or rumour that flits past its peripheral vision, before spitting it out –often undigested– in the form of minute-by-minute, second-by-second BREAKING NEWS headlines. Compared to today’s digital news output, 24 hour cable news seems almost narcoleptically relaxed.

Y citaba a Adam Penenberg, el tipo que, hace doce años, desenmascaró a Stephen Glass, el de The New Republic –película: "El precio de la verdad" (Shattered Glass)– y reventó, hace un mes, a tuitazos, el caso de los Ford Explorer defectuosos, un historión que había pasado desapercibido:

“What’s discouraging,” he says, “is the he-said-she-said… this so-called objective journalism”. […]

Another problem with the state of journalism today –both online and off– he says “is this obsession with being first –wanting to beat your rival to the story by two minutes. Is it really that important to be first?”

Y añade Carr sobre el caso de los Explorer:

See how many reporters just rehashed the lede –the size of the damages– and Ford’s response, without asking a single new question, or presenting so much as half a new fact. But then again, how would they? That would have involved a single fucking phone call.

Usted dirá: nada nuevo. Bueno, sí. Es que estamos hablando de Time. ¡Time! Con todo su ejército de implacables fact-checkers. Si Luce levantara la cabeza...