My Olympic Brush With Broadcasting Greatness

One of the enjoyable things these days about epic worldwide media events (think Oscars, Olympics, and apparently Justin Bieber haircuts) is the opportunity to share in the excitement of the affair with the entire Twitterverse.

Twitter enables real-time interaction with thousands of others who are participating in or watching an event, and periodically, you even get a celebrity response.

To that end, I bring you my Twitter exchange today with ESPN's Chris Fowler, regarding Chinese Olympic trampoline gold medalist - Dong Dong.

Don't worry. I don't think I actually offended Chris. This was at least his second tongue-in-cheek tweet about Dong. Besides, however shameful my comment was, I'm pretty sure this Yahoo Sports headline is worse.

Top Tweets About CNN's Supreme Court Gaffe

The incorrect CNN web headline

Scooping the competition has long been a top priority for print news media, but in the bizarre world of 24-hour television news, the pressure to get the story first has reached new heights. 

That explains, in part, why CNN jumped the gun this morning, and after misinterpreting some of Chief Justice John Robert's comments, incorrectly reported online and on-air that the Supreme Court had "struck down the centerpiece" of the Affordable Care Act.

In its defense, CNN wasn't the only news outlet to temporarily flub the story. Fox, HuffPo, NPR, and Time also initially stated incorrectly that the healthcare legislation had been declared unconstitutional.

I suppose one big takeaway here is that everyone, and especially those charged with reporting the news, should listen more carefully to the totality of a message before commenting or sharing it. 

The other big takeaway? Tons of really clever Tweets about fake news stories with the hashtag #CNNHeadlines. Here are some of my favorites.

What I Learned From Spike Lee's Twitter Flub

Spike Lee's Retweet

I am white. I am middle class. I have never been unfairly harassed or pre-judged by the police, and no one I know has ever been murdered. Some would argue that these personal characteristics leave me grotesquely under-qualified to fully understand the controversy surrounding the death of Trayvon Martin. They may be right, and consequently, I have written nothing on the topic - until now.

Yesterday I read that filmaker Spike Lee retweeted a message to his Twitter followers that he believed contained the address of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who tussled with and killed 17 year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, FL. As I contemplated what good could possibly come fom Spike Lee's tweet, I finally began to get a handle on my own feelings about this entire heartbreaking event.

Lee's retweet of the post, which originated with a Twitter user named named Marcus Higgins, made headlines not because it contained the address of Trayvon Martin's killer, but because it didn't. As it happens, the original tweet contained incorrect information, and the address that Spike Lee provided to his 250,000 plus Twitter followers actually belonged to an elderly Florida couple who are in no way related to George Zimmerman or to anyone involved in the Trayvon Martin case.

The inadvertently involved couple, David and Elaine McClain, began receiving threatening letters and phone calls shortly after Lee's retweet went out last Friday, and they ultimately fled their home and sought refuge in a hotel. Mr. Lee has subsequently apologized to the couple via Twitter,  and he implored his mass audience of Twitter followers to "Leave The McClain's In Peace." At the end of his message, he added "Justice In Court," presumably in an attempt to avoid inciting any further actions against the McClains, or against George Zimmerman himself. Lee has also settled with the McClains, compensating them for losses incurred and for the disruption of their lives.

I genuinely commend Mr. Lee for acting quickly to rectify the mistaken address situation with the McClains, but I also believe there are more important implications to be considered when you allow yourself to wonder what could have transpired if Spike Lee had transmitted the correct address for George Zimmerman on Twitter.

What if, in an attempt to provide the justice they fear might otherwise be denied, someone lit the Zimmerman home on fire, or worse, directly harmed or murdered George Zimmerman or a member of his family? Would an attack on Zimmerman improve the situation for Trayvon's grieving family? What impact would a revenge murder have on the already oft-strained relationship between races in America? I don't like to think about how this could have turned out.

Spike Lee
Photo: AP / Victoria Will

It's not my intent to become righteously indignant on behalf of Zimmerman, the McClains, or anyone else (sorry, if it's too late to avoid that outcome), nor is it my desire to bash Spike Lee, whose public persona and body of work I greatly respect and appreciate.

It's just that this unfortunate Twitter mistake has helped to crystallize my own thoughts about Trayvon Martin's death.

Today's Top Tim Tebow Trade Tweets

By now, you've heard that Denver has traded Tim Tebow to the New York Jets.

The announcement nearly killed the internet (Twitter loves Tebow), and as usual there are a few gems among the approximately 10 hundred zillion Tweets.

No worries though - you won't need to weed through all the chaff to get to the wheat. I've already spent seconds doing it for you. Some Tweets are funny, some are true, and some are funny 'cuz they're true. Enjoy.

Facebook, Twitter, and Other Weapons of Mass Instruction

Being an activist used to be hard and time-consuming work. Thanks to the advent of the social network - that's just not so any more.

Back in the day, if you wanted to send a message of discontent to "the man" or needed to disrupt the status quo, your first priority was to determine the best ways to fight the perceived injustice and to inflict harm upon your oppressor, or to otherwise gain attention for your cause. Then, you had to pound the pavement to identify a group of like-minded individuals and organizations who are willing to rally around your vision and objectives. Next, you might have to get busy printing placards, staging protests, organizing boycotts, and finding ways to attract the media. All of this took a lot of time and effort, but it was the necessary work of activism. Because you can't be very effective as a crusader if you're not thrusting your anti-whatever movement into the public spotlight, right?

Social media has revolutionized revolutionizing though. Now, any dick with a blog (eh-hem) can express his opinions, demand change, and publish a widespread call to action with little more than the click of a button (or two). Thanks to the World Wide Web - anyone, or everyone, can pick up the mantle of injustice and be an activist, and you never have to leave the cheap warm comfort of your parents' basement.

The internet enables us to react with blazing speed, and to respond and rebel nearly instantaneously when we have had enough of being held down, put down, torn down, or just gotten kind of ticked off. It provides us with a digital megaphone whose reach, with a bit of well-intentioned sharing, re-posting, and re-tweeting, is practically unlimited. And that's the other thing that makes social media revolutions so awesome - not only are they easy to start, they are incredibly easy to join, allowing for our "active" participation, even if we only give a half-hearted shit about the cause.

Ashton Kutcher Is Not Your Best News Source

I was already pretty certain that Ashton Kutcher's Twitter feed was not likely the best source for news and information, but now I know for sure.

It turns out that Ashton is not only not fair or balanced, he is also potentially not informed.


In a slightly less intense sidebar to the Penn State sexual abuse news story, Ashton Kutcher has now apologized for a knee-jerk tweet he published to his Twitter account. After glimpsing a headline about Joe Paterno's firing last night, Kusher, who mistakenly believed Paterno had been terminated for poor football results, tweeted a vehement defense of the coach's college football record. Upon getting the full story of the abuse scandal a short time later, Kusher retracted his position and deleted the tweet. He has subsequently announced, much to the dismay of his 8 million Twitter followers, that they will no longer receive tweets directly from him, as Kutcher's management company will now review and edit his tweets as needed before they are published (they will monitor the horse's mouth to ensure he doesn't look like a horse's ass again).

One quick additional editorial note - while Twitter, Facebook, and blogs like this one continue to play an increasingly large role in dispensing news and information to the masses, there are very few safeguards to ensure factual accuracy, much less legal or ethical correctness. When I write for The Way Things Turn, much of what I express is my editorial opinion, but I still make it a point to include links to bonafide news sources (Reuters, New York Times, SF Chronicle and so on). Even this silly post has two links.

Where Should You Post Your Status?

A flow chart for our times. Funny 'cuz it's true.
(You can click the pic to make it bigger if your eyes are as bad as mine.)

Originally produced by breakingcopy.com.