June 12, 2013 archive

TDYR #016 – The Washington Post Changes Its NSA PRISM Story – How Should They Let Us Know?

When a media site substantially changes a story published on their web site, what is their responsibility to let the readers know? And do we as readers view stories on media sites as "done" or as "works-in-progress" that are updated and changed? This came up in the context of the NSA PRISM story when the Washington Post rather massively changed their lead story on the issue, as chronicled by Ed Bott over on ZDNet: http://www.zdnet.com/the-real-story-in-the-nsa-scandal-is-the-collapse-of-journalism-7000016570/ It's an interesting question. On the one hand, updating the original article is a great way to ensure that readers have the most accurate information. On the other hand, it *is* a change from how we have traditionally viewed news stories out of the media.