As news of Hillary Rodham Clinton's impending concession filters through the Internets today, I think all webby journalists should be thinking about one person. Mayhill Fowler.
"Who?" you may ask. This 61-year-old citizen journalist has followed the campaign all season for The Huffington Post, and she is single-handedly changing the way the rest of this presidential campaign will be reported.
Last night, Fowler recorded former President Bill Clinton saying some off-the-cuff remarks that became breaking news this morning. Earlier this year, Fowler reported some comments that Barack Obama made at a fundraiser. Both times, she went to places where reporters don't usually report, and she made national headlines.
Citizen journalists like Fowler have been ignored and ridiculed for years--and nobody ever expected them to make news. Now they are, and all writers should pay attention. Jay Rosen summed it all up a few months ago. All the rules have changed, and reporters of all stripes need to figure out what to do about it:
"Michael Tomasky of the Guardian thinks we broke the rules, emphasis on “the.” Or that Gawker gawked. We’re in uncharted territory here. Descriptor languages missing. People get mad when they don’t know what to call things. Mad or daft."
What do you think? Is Fowler breaking the rules? Or fixing a broken press?
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