Twitter Fails To Beat News Agencies In Reporting

A new University of Edinburgh study shows that though Twitter may be fast in reporting breaking news but news agencies continue to have the edge.

Over the years Twitter has become an important source for trending news and gossip. However, researchers from the University of Edinburgh say that the micro blogging site still hasn't replaced the traditional news agencies. Many a times, Twitter may be the first to break news but such news mainly caters to niche audiences and has a short lifespan. The bulk of breaking news is reported in detail by news agencies, researchers say.

For the study, researchers developed a software algorithm to track Twitter activity and studied 51 million tweets over a period of 11 weeks. They also tracked a few news agencies like BBC, CNN, Reuters and the New York Times, which are in constant competition with each other to break news first.

Researchers identified a large number of Twitter messages related to breaking news as well as a few smaller news reports that mainstream news agencies failed to cover.

"Twitter and traditional news outlets each have their strengths in terms of delivering news. However, Twitter can bring added value by spreading the word on events that we might not otherwise hear about, and for bringing local perspectives on major news items," Dr Miles Osborne, of the University of Edinburgh's School of Informatics, who led the study said in a press release.

Both news agencies and Twitter more or less reported high-profile news at the same speed. Twitter did outdo news agencies while breaking some news but they were mostly related to sport and disaster. However, researchers revealed that Twitter was more beneficial for reading additional coverage of breaking news though most people turn to news pieces from new agencies to read and get the major bulk of information regarding such important news.