Metaphors: Worst environmental disaster in US history and forest for the trees

BP’s booboo
The Tri-City Herald‘s “The inside scoop: What’s new for newspapers?”

But what really got us thinking was Pruitt’s reminder of the newsroom’s unique role in democracy.

The internet is great. But it’s a gusher — not unlike the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Once you get it started, there’s just no shutoff valve … and no filter … and no retraction button.

And once it’s on the web, those rumors become a lot more believable for a lot of people. “I read it on the internet” is the new excuse for just about everything.

But buyer beware. It is often impossible to know if anyone has verified the material that’s on the internet or whether anyone is held responsible for rumors, misinformation or outright libel.

An old-growth forest
Michele Mclellan, paraphrased by Vadim Lavrusik in “Newspapers Are Still Dying, But the News Is Not Going Anywhere” on Mashable

Of course, to truly fill the gaps of lost coverage, it will take time. It isn’t going to happen overnight. Perhaps a good analogy is to think of it like a forest, McLellan said. The tall trees are old journalism (newspapers), which will eventually wither and die. But slowly all around us, we’re beginning to see “sprouts” that are quickly growing and starting to get more light (as the tall trees wither around them). That light is coming from recognition that the work they are doing is important and valuable.

via Steve Buttry