That is correct indeed. US media apparently has a tradition that dictates no coverage of a journalistic death until next of kin are notified.

If that means it takes a few minutes more for the rest of us to find out is that really a bad thing?

The fact that we all think Twitter is something interesting, that we check FF to see what the world is doing; that makes both of them relevant in this new, bizarre universe we live in.

twitter.com/mattwilliamson

May Tim Russert be at peace… and may the tools we like – be they twitter, friend feed, qik or whathaveyou only improve their stability and usage so that your comments section doesn’t always devolve into an argument about which is better and why!

Spill the beans, Steve, who did your ghostwriting?

As for Twitter et al, it’s simply a drug for the ’socially starved.’ There’s no denying that the underlying concept –dessemination of information, has its uses. But in its current incarnation, it is nothing more than a firehose of noise masquerading as a useful, enabling tool.

Some journalist groups will these as new tools in the practice of journalism just as the printing press was a tool in the printing of the call to revolution in the American Revolution. We are entering a new era of both journalism and media where the benefits far exceed the upcoming privacy challenges and data portability.

Can these new tools route around current policies of ‘great-wall-of-censorship’ policies and efforts?

Can these new tools establish new business models to reinvigorate old media industries?

We live in an interesting time where the dynamic traveling the path of these inquiries is just as rewarding and important as the answers themselves. It is one of the reasons why I applied as technical architect to the SpotUS(spot.us) effort of Dave Cohn because I believe a platform integration these tools for journalists would bring about positive answers to the above inquiries.

As a former journalist, former upstate ny’er, and proud washingtonian, I loved Tim Russert without really knowing him. But I loved what he stood for, how he lived his life.

As a journalist I get why it’s news, why “the show must go on,” (though like others here I wonder if the public mourning of this private loss for the nbc family was a bit overdoing it. I accepted it because i wanted it – I needed that kind of mourning too, but it’s fair grounds for critique), I just think knowing “first” is not always knowing best. Even in journalism.

I found out from a friend’s IM status line at about 3:30 (because I was working before, not necessarily because I couldn’t have found out before) – he linked me to a NY Post article. I didn’t believe it, in part because I didn’t want to, but in part because I was waiting, waiting for NBC or The Washington Post or NYT to tell me. I still trust them more then NY post, and whether this is sad or not, I DEFINITELY trust them more than twitter/friendfeed/interweb masses.

Just some thoughts from a (relative) nongeek, who’s loving tipping a toe into your world, but agrees on the perspective and on the dominance of this FF/Twitter/INsert New Tool Here war between what seems to be, actually, a very few people.

washwords

http://Friendfeed.com/
http://friendfe...oms/gillmorgang

C’mon Steve drink the koolaid already!! :*)
(just kidding… ok, maybe not)

So both mediums have their place and purpose. Breaking a fewly worded post a rumor a few minutes ahead of the full, factually laden article doesn’t seem like a huge accomplishment.

I’ll start with three – I’d love to see the commenters recommend others, though NOT their own venture:

-Iminlikewithyou, because despite a killer interface, fun games, and an interesting premise of casual dating around games, it has gotten little traction. Why? It can’t just be because their founder is an asshole. There’s a story there, TechCrunch, what is it?

-Tesla Motors, because it promises to further what the Prius started and make green cars sexy. Tesla has had some attention but I’d like to see more analysis of their recent troubles, potential solutions, and potential competitors.

-Blubet, because despite its sometimes spammy ways, it is building an impressively growing, free prediction market. At scale, this could be just as valuable as an at-scale Twitter. It could structure all that talk into powerful wisdom of the crowds. Shockingly, no such system exists yet that is popular (Intrade is paid and hardly popular).

Steve and Mike, aren’t these stories more interesting than the 1,001th article on Twitter stating the obvious?

What are your three under-hyped startups?

Too many people mistake reading for *understanding*, browsing for *actually doing something*, and that really makes me sad.

* * *

Oh wait, there’s a great bit of dialog from Ratatouille (hat tip, wikiquotes) that is amazingly apropos:

Mustafa: Do you know what you would like this evening, sir?

Ego: Yes, I think I do. After hearing a lot of over-heated puffery [...] do you know what I’m craving? A little… perspective. That’s it. I’d like some fresh, clear, well-seasoned perspective. Can you suggest a good wine to go with that?

Mustafa: With what, sir?

Ego: Perspective, fresh out, I take it?
[Mustafa is confused and stays silent]

Ego: Very well. Since you are all out of perspective and no one else seems to have it in this bloody town, I’ll make you a deal: you provide the food, I’ll provide the perspective, which would go nicely with a bottle of Cheval Blanc 1947.

Where are you from? Doesn’t matter, you are fake.