What We’re Planning to Discuss on 6/17

Last week we touched a nerve.

In discussing the dangers of real-time publishing, tweeps had strong opinions on the importance of due diligence in checking facts, verifying sources and publishing stories as events occur. Some were willing to take the chance that a story might change, others weren’t. Read the transcript here.

Tonight we’ll continue the discussion by focusing on best practices for real time publishing. This comes at a good time. Today on TechCrunch, Brian Solis wrote about how the merits of Twitter as a media platform have been debated at this week’s 140 Characters Conference in New York. Read more: “Is Twitter the CNN of the New Media Generation?”

We find the whole essay interesting but this snippet, in particular, caught us: “‘We the people’ wanted real-time information regarding the violent protests that erupted on the streets of Iran and the stories probing potential foul play in the results. We took to Twitter to express discontent and to also uncover the real story as it was unfolding live through citizen journalism.”

News coverage is being turned on its ear and the networks can’t keep up. NBC’s Ann Curry admitted as much during the panel discussion that Solis described.

We’d wager that book publishing is suffering the same fate. The time it takes from deal to published work is glacial in social media terms. But it’s still not long enough to complete necessary research. For example, there’s never enough time to verify whether a memoir is true, rather than a work of fiction. (An all-too-common outcome, we’re afraid.)

So we’re wondering, what are the best practices for real-time publishing? Who’s doing it right: being nimble, responsive, and most importantly, making sure that what’s published is accurate?

Join us tonight at 8:30pm EST to discuss.