Loading ...Why I No Longer Follow @BreakingNews
This morning at 8:30 AM Eastern Time, MSNBC took over the @BreakingNews on Twitter. A service that “started as a hobby in the Netherlands and grew into a business that gained international” recognition, Michael van Poppel’s news service quickly attracted over 1.4-million followers before divesting of the account in order to build an international news agency.
I applaud van Poppel’s move. He and his editors provide a fantastic news service that is global in reach, and as quick as other global news organizations. It is unfortunate that van Poppel turn the service over to MSNBC, an American cable news channel owned by NBC and Microsoft.
[Disclosure: I was a producer at NBC's Television Station Division from 1994-1998.]
I quit reading and watching MSNBC after its coverage of the shooting spree at Virginia Tech in April 2007. MSNBC’s editorial decision to air a video tape “confession” by the gunman struck me as counter to NBC News Policies and Guidelines that were in force at the time. To me, the struggling cable network was more interested in ratings and chose to air a video tape at times on a loop. It brought the gunman additional notoriety and kept the spotlight on him rather than his victims.
As a point of reference, local newspapers and small-town television stations don’t cover suicides for much of the same reason. They don’t want to build their reputation on troubled souls, nor do they want to encourage others looking for their Fifteen Minutes of Fame.
With such a poor decision-making among senior news managers, I have reservations as to whether or not MSNBC will continue van Poppel’s wide-ranging news gathering strategy or, eventually, allow @BreakingNews to become little more than an additional broadcast tool for the struggling cable channel. Perhaps my reservations are unfounded. Regardless, I no longer follow @BreakingNews.
I look forward to the new ventures by van Poppel, and wish him the best.
New Post: Why I No Longer Follow @BreakingNews at http://ping.fm/js00F #PR
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#news @BrianMcDaniel explains his dim expectations for @BreakingNews prospects as a service as MSNBC takes over http://ping.fm/js00F #PR
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Why I No Longer Follow @BreakingNews http://bit.ly/5QJ24G
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bigups 2 @mpoppel & BNOstaff for amazing news coverage in ‘09 I loved that it was independent. read @BrianMcDaniel take http://ping.fm/js00F
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[twitter] Why I No Longer Follow @BreakingNews | Brian McDaniel http://bit.ly/7OCa6d
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