Those of us immersed in the real-time web like Twitter and Facebook are aware of the impact these tools are having on dissemination of information about breaking news — real (Egypt, Japan) and fake (various false celebrity deaths).
This week, Robert Quigley (Facebook, Twitter), the social media editor for the Austin Statesman, had students at the University of Texas re-imagine the JFK assassination. What would it be like in this age of smartphones, Twitter and Facebook?
His materials are here: Slideshare (the download – Keynote not PPT – may provide a better experience), Twitter and Tumbler.
The choice of JFK’s assassination makes sense for UT-Austin because the event took place in Texas. What historic events have taken place where you live that would lend themselves to an exercise like this? I plan to do something similar with my digital journalism class this quarter, focusing on the May 18, 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.
Postscript:
O.M.G. Emergency blast to USDA. Who is in charge of your website technology? Fire them. NOW.
I’m not using your URLs and you shouldn’t be, either:
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