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Journalists react to the Rocky Mountain News Twittering a funeral

By Michael Roberts in More Messages

Thursday, Sep. 11 2008 @ 10:55AM

For tweet's sake.

Word that the Rocky Mountain News tasked a reporter with using the Twitter micro-blogging service to provide minute-by-minute commentary at the Wednesday funeral of three-year-old Marten Kudlis has triggered plenty of outrage in the larger journalism community. Prime example: a busy thread at SportsJournalists.com, which finds several scribes calling for anyone involved in the decision to be fired. Sample their anger and frustration here. -- Michael Roberts

Tags: Michael Roberts, Rocky Mountain News, SportsJournalists.com, Twitter

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5 comment(s) / Post a Comment

Mike Lange says:

If this is the wave of the future, then I'm glad I'm a retired news dinosaur.

For Christ's sake, this is a child's funeral, not a college football game!

How low can you stoop? If I were the parents, I'd be livid.

Posted On: Thursday, Sep. 11 2008 @ 11:32AM

Bill says:

People should be fired. Or at least severely disciplined. What a joke and an embarrassment, though I'm sure John Temple will defend it all. All that was missing was "Buy pictures at our online store."

Posted On: Thursday, Sep. 11 2008 @ 11:46AM

Bill M says:

Given how many open casket shots the Rocky has run on its pages -- including the cover -- over the past couple of years, it's not surprising John Temple's operation would engage in this type of behavior.

Here's more commentary, this from the Colorado Independent online political news organization:

http://www.coloradoindependent.com/7717/rmn-tweets-the-funeral-of-3-year-old-boy/

Posted On: Thursday, Sep. 11 2008 @ 12:46PM

Seamus says:

Good point, Bill M. Perhaps the reporter was doing the best he could to bring the absurdity of this all to light. Let's hope so. Until these so-called journalists grow some, and quit worrying about losing their jobs, we can forget about finding much relevance in our local media.

Oh, and, thanks Colorado "Independent" for setting us all straight on the fact that to use Twitter is to "tweet."

Shall we then "tweet" a moment of silence for journalistic integrity?

Posted On: Thursday, Sep. 11 2008 @ 1:41PM

Wenalway says:

Sorry, but the sj.com thread is already off the tracks with the usual chest-thumping about "I have kids, and you don't!" All we need now are some links to crazy, pseudojournalist moms doing the same thing in their repetitive, worthless blogs.

Also, anyone who refers to writers as "scribes" might as well conclude the piece with: "I'm a tool."

Posted On: Thursday, Sep. 11 2008 @ 10:53PM