As part of a chapter for a new book Face the Future: Tools for a Modern Media Age, Daniel Bennett wrote on his Frontline Club blog “a Twitter revolution in breaking news”. Here’s a few of the points he makes:

• “A Twitter revolution in the practices of journalists covering breaking news has significant implications for journalism. It places pressure on the traditional news agency wires which are now regularly slower with the news than Twitter’s easily-updated network.”

• “It thus increases the speed of the news cycle, enabling journalists to access sources very quickly in a breaking news crisis and it is part of a broader trend whereby journalists are operating in a “live” online news medium.”

Here are some of my thoughts:

• These are very good points and shifts the debate between ‘Twitter’ and ‘revolution’ from most of the things that I read recently. It recognized, rightfully, the rise of Twitter in journalism and the way in which it has been used as well as its potential impact on journalism.

• But I keep wondering: Is it Twitter or is it journalism as a field that encourages the use of new tools such as Twitter? Breaking news have always been at the center of news production and journalism. In the beginning of 2000s, people were talking about 24/7 news channels revolutionizing the breaking news process.
  

• I would interested to hear about the overall historical development of the profession and how Twitter fits into that development and how journalists and institutions interact with its advent. As a result, I am wondering: is Twitter ‘just another tool’ in the evolution of journalism practice and breaking news?