Facebook News Feed: The New Face of Journalism? March 15, 2011

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Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2011/03/04/The_Fourth_Estate_in_a_Digital_Democracy

David Kirkpatrick, author of The Facebook Effect, asserts that the Facebook News Feed is a new form of journalism. Quoting founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Kirkpatrick says, "A squirrel dying in front of your house sometimes matters more to you than people starving in Africa."

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We arguably live in a golden age for news media. Technology has enabled unprecedented access to information. Americans are consuming more news than ever from myriad sources. And as the recent uprisings in the Middle East have dramatized so powerfully, social media have not only opened new channels and driven increased consumption, they've enabled consumers to become creators, citizens to become journalists.

And yet, amid this great democratic flowering of news and access, there are lingering and disturbing doubts about the vitality of the fourth estate. In today's competitive digital media environment, are the news media fulfilling their obligation to be responsible mediators of information and public discourse?

The Paley Center's Media Council has convened prominent journalists from print, broadcast, and digital media; news executives; public officials; journalism entrepreneurs; and media experts to explore this issue in a constructive dialogue. - Paley Center for Media

David Kirkpatrick, longtime senior editor for Internet and technology at Fortune Magazine, has written for two decades about the computer and technology industries, as well as the impact of the Internet on business and society. His book, entitled The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company that is Connecting the World was published by Simon & Schuster in the U.S. June 15, 2010. The book describes Facebook's history and how this newly-dominant Internet force is changing behaviors across societies worldwide.