Land of the free, home of the brave Beginning in 1776 with the declaration of

independence from Great Britain, America has prided itself on the creeds of freedom and
independence.Throughout history, the United States of America has continually dedicated great
efforts to maintain a country similar to that of which the forefathers intended to establish,
eliminating any potential threats to freedom. We, as a country, have sent a clear message that we
will pay any price to guard our freedom, but, within the country, people are fighting for greater
individual power and freedom in terms of getting information. While traditional news networks
remain as the most reliable sources of news, people are starting hold a greater appreciation for
social medias acting as news forums because as Henry Jenkins puts it, freedom is fostered when
the means of communication are dispersed, decentralized, and easily available, as are printing
presses or microcomputers. Central control is more likely when the means of communication are
concentrated, monopolized, and scarce, as are great networks, (461). Social medias, where
freedom of speech heavily exists, represent a new generation of sources of instant information
that, when used along side of traditional news networks, create a convergence culture. Facebook,
Twitter, Reddit and other social medias depiction of news depends heavily on consumers active
participation as opposed to the passive delivery by traditional news networks (457) (Jenkins).
The fact that consumers play such a significant role in social

medias increases the risk of providing false information because not everyone is as well
informed and well trained as the producers working at a traditional news network where
information has to be confirmed before being aired. But at the same time, this exact same
characteristics of social medias empowers them with the speed of delivering information that
traditional networks dont have. Such complementary nature of social medias and traditional
news networks makes the convergence culture an immensely complicated, interrelated and
fascinating one. As Henry Jenkins so eloquently put it, we are entering an era of prolonged
transition and transformation in the way media operate(468). Although the freedom people have
on social media provides a lot of margins for biased and erroneous information, the new
technology enables people to access news in unprecedented ways that even traditional news
organizations appreciate, creating a convergence culture where old and new media collide and
evolve.
The news coverage of Boston Marathon bombing and MIT shooting clearly demonstrates
how the new social media is quickly becoming the most popular news source. Because of the
instantaneous nature of new media, the first people to know about the bombing were those using
Twitter and Facebook. On April 15th 2013, two pressured cooker bombs were detonated at
around 2:48pm(Levs). Because the marathon itself was an important tradition in Boston, there
were a lot journalists and reporters at the scene, some of whom were actually participating in the
marathon. Even so, it was impossible to organize a live report in such short period of time.
Merely 2 mins later, before any live cover was arranged, a man who goes by @DeLoBarstool on
social networking website Twitter sent the first tweet about the explosion Uhh explosions in
Boston(Rogers). When the professional reporters couldnt put up a news cover in time, ordinary

people took their roles and spread the news through social media. As Steven Johnson describes in
his article, using social media to spread news is to work in a zone where there are no experts or
where the users themselves are the experts(470). The experts, in this case were the people. Even
though a lot of news networks are capable of preparing a live cover in a short period of time,
nothing beats a tweet that can be sent to the world within few clicks. The man, owning a
smartphone and a twitter account, became the expert and delivered the news to people around the
world.
The advantage of social media became even more apparent a few days later when the
suspects of Boston bombing shot a MIT police and carjacked a SUV. The Boston police started a
huge manhunt which was covered live on almost every big news network. However, when the
shots were first being reported, no big news networks were there. According to an article posted
on PolicyMic.com, Network news did not arrive on scene until nearly an hour after Twitter had
broken the story(Bleiberg). Whenever someone hears a gun shot or anything suspicious, he/she
can immediately post it on Twitter and Facebook. Big networks, however, have to go through a
series of process to verify the report before actually including it in the news. Such time delays
usually range from 10 to 20 mins which in cases like this one, can make all the difference. One
of my friends even posted on Facebook saying that CNN [is] utterly unreliable and behind real
time. Listen to scanner if you in any way can. TV news "live updates" are 20 minutes old. I
made a Twitter to get better news. This quote is particularly interesting because my friend
actively chose her source of information. She was not required to sit in front of TV and listen to
whatever CNN or NBC would have fed her. She actively went online and searched for the

information she wanted. She is able to learn how to use these different media technologies to
bring the flow of media more fully under [her] control and to interact with other
consumers(467). This kind of freedom of choosing information is exactly what Henry Jenkins
calls a convergence culture.
Because of the amazing features of social media, even traditional networks have started
using the new media such as Twitter to deliver information in the most timely manner. CNN,
Boston Globe and Boston Police Department are just a few examples of traditional institutions
who adapte new technologies. Just as Henry Jenkins states in his article, Media companies are
learning how to accelerate the flow of media content across delivery channels to expand revenue
opportunities, broaden markets, and reinforce viewer commitments(467). A growing number of
audiences are using social medias to gather information. A quarter of Americans got information
about the devastating explosions and the hunt for the bombers on social networking sites such as
Facebook and Twitter, according to a report out Tuesday from the Pew Research
Center(Petrecca). Social medias have very successfully established themselves as the quickest
news delivery systems.
However, social medias do have their short comings. Without a strict regulation system
for online networks, the information can be misleading and readers have to be able to filter out
the inaccurate informations themselves. For example, two innocent young men were accused of
being responsible for the Boston bombing on many social networking website. According to an
article online, social media site Reddit acknowledged its role in helping to disseminate false
information, saying, Some of the activity on Reddit fueled online witch hunts and dangerous

speculation.(Petrecca). Even though the misleading informations are harmless most of the time,
they can be, and it was in this case, very wrong and dangerous. The fact that so many people use
social networks allows one piece of information, possibly a false one, to spread surprisingly
quickly and cause unnecessary confusions and potential unrests. The traditional news networks,
on the contrary, are able to avoid making such mistakes because their information is confirmed
through multiple sources before it is included into the actual news. On social media, people have
to piece together all the information they get online, instead of reading a complete report put
together by a professional team. Each of us constructs our own personal mythology from bits
and fragments of information extracted from the media flow and transformed into resources
through which we make sense of our everyday lives(Jenkins, 457). Because of peoples different
cultural backgrounds and education levels, they can piece together the same pieces of puzzles in
totally different ways. Such versatility can create much confusion and misunderstanding.
Personally, I dont have a Twitter and I would rather watch the nightly news than having to piece
everything together myself even if that means I had to be 20 minutes out of date.
Furthermore, the freedom audiences have in choosing the sources of information online
often results in a narrower information source. Since everyone can choose the sources they like,
one is likely to read news from Twitter accounts that they like. As a result, It is now possible
even common to go about your day in America and consume only what you wish to see and
hear(473). But there are a lot of important things that one may not agree with. People should
still be informed even though they might not be willing to accept the news. As Williams so
clearly puts it, the problem is that theres a lot of information out there that citizens in an

informed democracy need to know in our complicated world with U.S. troops on the ground
along two major fronts(473). Society is complicated and people are not able to make good
decisions if they are not well informed from multiple perspectives. Traditional news networks
forces people to receive a wide range of information, equipping them with knowledge across
the spectrum of different news, allowing them to analyze issues from more perspectives.
Despite new medias incompetent speed, old media still keeps the tradition of excellence,
accuracy, and comprehensiveness. The two types of medias collide and evolve and their
competition further contributes to the convergence culture. As Jenkins puts it, Each old medium
was forced to coexist with the emerging media. Old media are not being displaced. Rather,
their functions and status are shifted by the introduction of new technologies(464). As
technology keeps improving, people will be able to access a lot more information in a lot more
different ways. Media networks will be able to deliver information through many more channels.
But at the mean time, traditional networks still holds its value of providing most comprehensive
and least biased information. Such constant changes of news industry will keep transforming the
way we get to know this world. Both audiences and news networks will have to adapt to the
changes in order to receive more accurate and useful information and keep audiences attracted.

Works Cited
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PolicyMic. N.p., 19 Apr. 2013. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
Haughney, Christine. "New York Post Faces Suit Over Boston Bomb Article." New York Times.
New York Times, 6 June 2013. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
Jenkins, Henry. "Convergence Culture." Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture
for Writers. Ed. Sonia Maasik. Boston: Bedford, 1997. 455-68. Print.
Johnson, Steven. "It's All about Us." Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for
Writers. By Sonia Maasik. Boston: Bedford, 1997. 468-71. Print.
Levs, Josh. "Boy, 8, One of 3 Killed in Bombings at Boston Marathon; Scores Wounded." CNN.
Cable News Network, 18 Apr. 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.
Petrecca, Laura. "Social Media Informs Many, Frustrates Some, after Boston Marathon
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Rogers, Simon. "The Boston Bombing: How Journalists Used Twitter to Tell the Story." Twitter
Blogs. Twitter, 10 June 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.
Williams, Brian. "Enough about You." Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture
for Writers. By Sonia Maasik. Boston: Bedford, 1997. 472-74. Print.