When Is It Too Much Information

We live in the world of instant information. And I am getting tired of it.

Yesterday, there were several instances in that made news that broke online and on twitter before the reporter had all of the information. One was a very serious situation in Seattle; the other two had to do with NFL football players and what were first reported as serious injuries.

The one thing that I have learned in my 20 plus years in this business is to get all the facts before sharing them on the microphone. It was one of the early lessons taught in Communications 101. Don’t broadcast a half story.

In my opinion, quite a few people are skipping that first communication class in college.

It seems that now everyone wants to rush the story to the air, online, and twittershpere – regardless fo whether they have the all the facts, the complete story or an inkling of what is really going on. It’s sad. And it is embarrassing in so many ways to be in the same field.

Sometimes the we are getting bad directions with all these information avenues we have to travel.