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Do Journos do it better? Some thoughts from Sydney's pre-eminent Hacks & Hackettes

Well, do journos do it better? Do what better? What is it exactly that journos do? Emma Kemp reviews the final panel of Day One.

These were the questions six panelists attempted to answer in the Journalists in Social Media Communities discussion at the Media 140 Conference in Sydney.

The Dictionary defines a journalist as: “someone engaged in journalism”.

“It’s really quite broad,” said online tech correspondent and writer, Stilgherrian. “Of course journalists are better at IT, because IT is what journalists are doing. And if they’re not doing IT, then they’re not journalists at all.”

Sounds simple really. But why should traditional journalists be any more relevant and influential than their blogging, Facebook and Twitter counterparts?

“Who cares if journos do IT better, if IT is outdated and no-one wants It? Whatever “IT” is. Journalism ain’t newspapers, radio or TV,” argues Stilgherrian.

“This is why I think there is this journalists verses bloggers contest that has been simmering under the surface all day.”

Laurel Papworth, social media consultant and blogger, asked whether journalists are doing it all?

“Piggybacking off online communities and using their stories and their content for the mainstream media is not the best thing,” she said.

Each panelist contributed largely the same argument to the debate, but armed with unique words.

Columnist, author and blogger, Mia Freedman, likened Twitter to acting on a stage as opposed to acting in a film or television show. “Your audience is right there and you receive a fairly immediate response from them on what you tweet.”

“In fact,” added SBS Head of News and Current Affairs Online Valerio Veo, “the passionate blogger does more verification and fact checking than a mainstream journalist, and they go about it in a more transparent way.”

Veo compared himself to the “bastard child” of old and new media. “I, like the child of a broken home, care deeply for both my parents.”

And in fact, as founder and CEO of Norg Media, Bronwen Clune puts it: “If bloggers can learn to be journalists, surely journalists can learn to tweet?”