As is the habit of news organisations trying to fill space at the end of the year when most of the office has flown off for a holiday, what’s left of the editorial team have been sitting around making stuff up.
From CNN comes a handy list of the top 12 Tech Stories of 2012 and this one is of interest to us:
Live-tweeting war
Violence and war have long been documented on Twitter and other social networks — typically by journalists and by regular people on the ground (notably the Pakistani witness to the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden).
But in November, the Israeli military took this concept to a new level. During its conflict with Palestinian forces in Gaza, the Israel Defense Force tweeted updates, including the news it had “eliminated” Hamas leader Ahmed Jabari. The military arm of Hamas responded on Twitter with its own provocations.
The back-and-forth between the warring sides signaled a jarring evolution in how war is broadcast in real time.
And remember how the BBC wanted to shut this down? Oh yes, free speech and all that stuff.
