Feature Writing Journal Entry

In the article "Journalists Killed in Libya, News Breaks on Facebook," featured in Wired, writer Pete Brook incorporates the role of social media in reporting the deaths of photojournalists Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros. Specifically, he describes the confusion often associated with reporting deaths online without or prior to confirmation. In the cases of Hetherington and Hondros, as well as many other situations like it, readers are left without official knowledge of injuries and/or deaths for hours before they are able to make sense of events. Despite the inevitable ambiguity, social media still provides, and will continue to provide, Brook writes, a method of gathering, both for ideas and for people. Furthermore, he mentions the roles of websites such as Facebook and Twitter to become memorials for the deceased, allowing friends to still have access to the person’s profile as well as the ability to post memorial comments to the person’s wall.

Although Brook could have potentially focused more on characterization, he does do an intriguing and high-quality job of intriguing readers about the ambiguities and securities that social media provide. Given both the rising conflict in Libya and the ever-changing realms of Facebook and Twitter, he writes his story in a way that is relevant to his audience. His details regarding Facebook memorial wall posts, including examples from Hetherington’s profile on the site, connects with readers and, more importantly, asks them to understand the ever-developing connections within social media in an active, yet still personal, way. Because of its relevance and its layered connection with readers, encouraging them to see the greater picture of modern interaction, the article was extremely provocative.