Exactly how did Kate Schneider know the nationality of Twitterers to claim that, “many Australians posted messages on Twitter and social networks saying they would postpone travel plans”? Answer, she didn’t. After making that claim the first tweet she quotes is from someone who identified themselves as from Singapore. In face she only attributes quotes to people of other nationalities and doesn’t identify any as Australian. Sloppy journalism that tries to make a story out of zero evidence.

Even before the revised warnings, many Australians posted messages on Twitter and social networks saying they would postpone travel plans.

“My trip to Jakarta has been postponed… Hotel bombings in Jakarta – Ritz Carlton and JW Marriott. And I was going to be staying at Ritz Carlton,” Martin Tay from Singapore said on Twitter.

“I’m leaving Jakarta,” another user, Marisa Della, said.

“So scary. I will not go to Jakarta,” Rua Dernawab said.

“The Ritz Carlton and the JW in Jakarta were just bombed. That’s why you shouldn’t travel to Indonesia,” Matthew Bourne, from the US, said.

“Jakarta is now right up there on my list of cities never to visit,” Kim Walbridge said.

However other travellers have not been put off their trips by the bombings.

“I go to Jakarta every now and then. As with previous bombing it isn’t changing my travel plans,” Twitter user wanting to be known as Global Traveller said.

Others are questioning what the bombings will do to the country’s tourism industry, which has just recovered after hard times.

“Tourism in Indonesia just back to normal this year after several tough years. Will the Jakarta bomb completely screw this up?” travel business owner J Tindall said.

“Bombings in Jakarta will not be good for the economy or tourism,” Indonesian Scott Stricker said.

“Explosions at Ritz Carlton Jakarta has just destroyed so many Indonesians’ dreams and wasted their efforts for years building the nation. People are dead and buildings destroyed. Next, Indonesian’s economy will take a deep plunge,” Jennifer Frentasia said.

“One step forward, 3 steps back. Let the travel warnings begin,” Twitter user Soma said.

via Australians warned not to travel to Indonesia | Travel News | News.com.au.

The truth is that she doesn’t know the nationality of the Twitter users. She is trying to beat up a story without doing any real research – heavans, it wouldn’t be hard to find some Australians who probably have postponed their travel plans but it’s easier to write ‘Twitter’ and then make something up as though that’s evidence enough.

The story then goes on to quote other Twitter posts at the time of the blast. Honestly, why doesn’t News Ltd just put up the Twitter search page instead of their own banner?

It’s fascinating to see how these mainstream news outlets are dealing with phenomenon like Twitter – it’s clear they are not. But at least they are exposing their own sloppy standards of journalism in their rush to keep up with the new information sources.

Trouble is we are probably going to rely more on the established press to filter and corroborate what comes through social networks as news – News Ltd provides no evidence that they are up to the task.

Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post

FACEBOOK is launching a new redesign this week, and users are reacting with confusion.

The social network’s official blog yesterday announced the start of changes to user’s home and profile pages worldwide

via Mixed reactions as Facebook changes its look again | News | News.com.au.

Yawn. Whatever. Facebook seems to have some pretty insecure and disturbingly change resistant users. This article on news.com.au suggests that there is a wave of reaction to a redesign on the home page of the site. From what WEE can tell, it looks fine. Nothing fabulous but then neither are the other key pages in Facebook. It’s a social networking site.

The things people get worked up about…

Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post

photo credit: Daquella manera

New kids send democracy up the spout

By Andrew Bolt

September 10, 2008 03:49am

YOU think we live in a democracy where we choose our leaders? Then wake up and check the leaders of our states and territories.

Voted for any of them?

In fact, six of the eight got their jobs without going to an election. They were picked instead by their party to replace a leader of their own side.

Five still haven’t got the voters’ nod since, which means most Australians have a premier they’ve never had the chance to vote for.

New kids send democracy up the spout | NEWS.com.au.

Poor Andrew Bolt seems not to understand how our constitution works. Perhaps he could walk across the threshold of a public school where they might deign to provide him an education about this.

He seems not to understand a basic tenet of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. To put it very simply, very few people in the electorate vote directly for a premier or prime minister. The voters vote for a candidate from a party or an independent. The members of the parliament then elect a leader to be premier or prime minister or oppositions leader.

This notion that people directly elect the premier or prime minister, as Bolt’s article implies is just nonsense. Do you think that dear Mr Bolt would be making such a fuss if a Liberal leader had been installed in such a fashion – and this has happened pretty commonly too? Of course not. He chooses to misrepresent the constitution for his pathetic political ends – namely, sour grapes that his team isn’t in government.

WEE all know that the current crop of Labor governments are pretty average. And in the fair state of NSW they’re rubbish. But to pretend that it’s somehow ‘not democracy’ for the parliamentary parties to elect their leaders, and as it follows, premiers and prime ministers is disingenous. Still WEE wouldn’t have expected anything else from Andrew Bolt – it’s probably all a bit complex for him to comprehend.

Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post