The non-spoiler alert spoiler
Jul 31, 2012, 10:47 PM | Updated: 10:48 pm
Text messages poured into KTAR on Tuesday morning, taking our news organization to task for “spoiling” the results of the Olympic women’s gymnastics event.
One text said this: “Really disappointed that you announced the winner. America doesn’t get to watch until tonight and would have liked to not have known results. Thanks for ruining that for us.” Here’s another, “Thanks for ruining that for me. [Expletive deleted]. Get the picture?”
Here’s the deal. KTAR is a news radio station. Not only do we report the news, we are obligated to report it. Imagine if we tape delayed the Supreme Court decision on SB 1070 in an attempt to gain higher ratings? That would be shameful.
We are obligated to run the news as it happens, not put it on pause because NBC has decided to air it during prime time. The women’s gymnastics competition is news because of the results (In case you didn’t know by now, the US women won gold for the first time since 1996).
I’ll also point out that NBC’s own website and their website set up for the Olympics both posted the final results as soon as the event was over.
The world is connected in ways we never have been before. Information travels faster than ever. As one tweet pointed out, “I can watch revolutions halfway around the world live, but I can’t watch the Olympics.” Because of Facebook, Twitter, wireless Internet and cell phones, we can be connected anywhere in the globe, in a matter of seconds. Like this or not, it’s not going to change.
There will come a point in time where NBC won’t be allowed to tape delay events, such as the Olympics, because people want to know the moment it happens.
The only realistic way left to avoid getting breaking news, including Olympics results, right away is to live in a bubble by staying away from your cell phone, Facebook page and staying off the Internet.
I’ll do the opposite. My phone is on and it’s connected. I receive text message alerts from KTAR, three different newspapers and a couple of TV stations. I want the news and information as it happens. Not eight hours later.
Maybe that’s just me.
