2017

Live and Dangerous: Journalism and the Real-Time Social Web

Emily Bell

Modern journalism is enabled by the reach and power of technology platforms and social networks to broadcast anything from anywhere in the world. Terrorist attacks become horrifying theatre, our attention drawn to events and their aftermath as they unfold, and the ‘breaking news’ organisation is anyone with a mobile phone and a social media account. As Facebook Live becomes the window on all events, and mobile technology turns anyone into a potential broadcasting unit, how do we decide what to report and what to edit? Who is in control and what is the role for legacy broadcasters and news organisations in this new world?

Emily Bell is the founding director of Columbia University’s highly regarded Tow Center for Digital Journalism and a leading authority on digital journalism.