0:00:02 > 0:00:04The DNA of news is changing.
0:00:04 > 0:00:09Breaking stories now come to us on our phones and our computers
0:00:09 > 0:00:10as well as our TVs.
0:00:10 > 0:00:15Social media is at the heart of all the big stories.
0:00:15 > 0:00:17It's transformed our speed and space for news,
0:00:17 > 0:00:21the way we source, inform and deliver it.
0:00:21 > 0:00:27Now we all have instant access to overwhelming amounts of information.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31How should TV journalists harness this astonishing new resource?
0:00:31 > 0:00:36Or does this social media revolution spell the end for broadcast news?
0:00:50 > 0:00:52APPLAUSE
0:01:01 > 0:01:03Good evening.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06Here is the news as it used to be.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11Here is an illustrated summary of the news.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13It'll be followed by the latest film
0:01:13 > 0:01:16of events and happenings at home and abroad.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19The truce talks in Indo-China went on today.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22It is in a neutral zone here at Trung Gia
0:01:22 > 0:01:23that the talks are being held.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26The Queen received the Right Honourable Sir Anthony Eden MP
0:01:26 > 0:01:29in audience this morning,
0:01:29 > 0:01:32and offered him the post of Prime Minister
0:01:32 > 0:01:34and First Lord of the Treasury.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37Sir Anthony Eden accepted Her Majesty's offer,
0:01:37 > 0:01:39and kissed hands upon his appointment.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41Norwegian television is preparing tonight
0:01:41 > 0:01:45to televise a cabinet meeting with King Olaf presiding.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48Now, that sounds pretty hard to beat,
0:01:48 > 0:01:50but we'll try when you come back to Newsroom later on.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53The Queen has interrupted her tour of Australasia
0:01:53 > 0:01:54for the election formalities.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57While there, she faced noisy demonstrations
0:01:57 > 0:02:02from Aborigine demonstrators demanding equality and land rights.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05That's all for now. The main news on BBC One tonight is at 10:15.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14And this is what news looks like today.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20..there are reports tonight the government is trying to regain the initiative.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23..the streets, and attacked the unarmed protesters.
0:02:31 > 0:02:32CHANTING
0:02:35 > 0:02:36Just go!
0:02:36 > 0:02:40The United States government had absolutely nothing
0:02:40 > 0:02:42to do with this video.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44So let's do this!
0:02:51 > 0:02:52CHANTING
0:03:02 > 0:03:05Over the past few years, there has been a revolution
0:03:05 > 0:03:09in the way we gather our news, the way we tell our stories.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12The stories themselves have been shaped and changed
0:03:12 > 0:03:16by a new generation of citizen journalists and activists.
0:03:16 > 0:03:21They're texting, tweeting, filming, photographing.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24They don't work for mainstream media.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26But they're all involved in this business now
0:03:26 > 0:03:29of sending their news to the world.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34And it's happening not just in countries far away.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38In the London riots in the summer of 2011,
0:03:38 > 0:03:41Twitter, Facebook, BlackBerry Messenger
0:03:41 > 0:03:46were used by the rioters and protesters to gather, to regroup.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50And they were used by citizens to follow or to tell a story,
0:03:50 > 0:03:53or to be the story themselves.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56Social media sites are streaming instant information
0:03:56 > 0:03:57for good and ill.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00Communities are warning each other of trouble,
0:04:00 > 0:04:02but rumours can quickly spread.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05There's also been violence in Nottingham, Leicester
0:04:05 > 0:04:07and other cities.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10The messaging service of BlackBerry phones
0:04:10 > 0:04:12has been commonly used by those intent on disorder,
0:04:12 > 0:04:16because it's private, keeping plans off the police radar.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23Social media have become part of every major story,
0:04:23 > 0:04:27whether it's a tragedy, like the earthquake in Japan,
0:04:27 > 0:04:31or a moment of celebration, like the Royal Wedding.
0:04:31 > 0:04:38News is now breaking at the speed of, well, life.
0:04:38 > 0:04:39How does it happen?
0:04:39 > 0:04:44Well, some of you may already be part of this brave new world.
0:04:44 > 0:04:49If not, here's a short guide for those who are the uninitiated,
0:04:49 > 0:04:53and perhaps, so far, unimpressed.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57Post a tweet that's a message no longer than 140 characters
0:04:57 > 0:05:00it will be seen instantly by all of the people
0:05:00 > 0:05:04who have decided to follow you on the Twitter website.
0:05:04 > 0:05:09And if your followers retweet it, it will be seen by many more people.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12Highlight a subject by putting a hashtag on it,
0:05:12 > 0:05:16people searching by hashtag will see it.
0:05:16 > 0:05:21And if it's really big, in Twitter language,
0:05:21 > 0:05:24you'll be "trending" in other words, making headlines.
0:05:24 > 0:05:29Or set up a Facebook page, and then you can post your own comments,
0:05:29 > 0:05:31your own videos and photographs.
0:05:31 > 0:05:35Or there are special pages - they're known as Facebook groups.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38They're for people who may not necessarily know each other,
0:05:38 > 0:05:45but they share common interests be it politics, protests, pop music, Prince William.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49Whatever it is, it's a space to share and to spread the word.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53And then there's YouTube, the video-sharing website,
0:05:53 > 0:05:57where anyone can upload material so that everyone can view it,
0:05:57 > 0:06:00if they wish, wherever they are.
0:06:00 > 0:06:06Those are just three examples in the fast-changing world of social media.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08And they all work the same.
0:06:08 > 0:06:14Like nuclear reactions, one post can spark off a chain of reposts,
0:06:14 > 0:06:18and they're seen by dozens, thousands,
0:06:18 > 0:06:21millions of people around the world.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25And it happens in minutes, sometimes seconds.
0:06:25 > 0:06:31Welcome to a whole new world of network news.
0:06:34 > 0:06:36So what about us, then?
0:06:36 > 0:06:39Us old broadcast journalists?
0:06:39 > 0:06:44Where do we stand in the midst of a revolution
0:06:44 > 0:06:47where the people have new power?
0:06:48 > 0:06:51We're the leaders, news leaders.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53We're choosing the stories,
0:06:53 > 0:06:58we're filming, recording, editing, broadcasting the news.
0:06:58 > 0:07:03You're the audience, waiting for our news.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05What do we do now?
0:07:05 > 0:07:08Do we take to our television trenches and say,
0:07:08 > 0:07:09"We're bigger and we're better"?
0:07:10 > 0:07:13Or do we say that we're joining forces
0:07:13 > 0:07:17with this social media revolution, and we're all on the same side now?
0:07:17 > 0:07:20Or do we admit defeat
0:07:20 > 0:07:25in this age-old battle to be first with the news?
0:07:25 > 0:07:29The answer, ladies and gentleman,
0:07:29 > 0:07:33is about nothing less than our own survival.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38Back in the day, news was a different kind of business.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43When I covered my first war, in North Africa, in Chad,
0:07:43 > 0:07:45in March 1987,
0:07:45 > 0:07:48I ended up being the only foreign journalist left
0:07:48 > 0:07:54in the capital, Njdamena, when the big battle finally happened.
0:07:54 > 0:07:59The news reached us about midnight that French-backed Chadian troops
0:07:59 > 0:08:06had crushed Libyan forces at the fabled desert outpost of Ouadi Doum.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10Breaking news! I sent it the quickest way possible -
0:08:10 > 0:08:15running as fast as I could to the one place that had a telex machine,
0:08:15 > 0:08:19the State Telecommunications Building.
0:08:19 > 0:08:21But my speed, as it was then,
0:08:21 > 0:08:27was slower than a pack of wild desert dogs lurking in the night.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30So they chased me.
0:08:30 > 0:08:31And one bit me.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34- LAUGHTER - But that's another story.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37I telexed my war report to London.
0:08:38 > 0:08:42The next day, I was expelled by the government.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45They didn't realise I was still there.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47Or at least they tried to expel me,
0:08:47 > 0:08:50because a sandstorm closed down the airport.
0:08:50 > 0:08:55So that gave them more time to get through to me
0:08:55 > 0:09:00on a crackling telephone line from London.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02So I was interviewed about the war,
0:09:02 > 0:09:05and my dog bite, too.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10Those days are gone.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14I, and many other journalists, both local and foreign,
0:09:14 > 0:09:18are still reporting on wars in North Africa and the Middle East.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21But there's very little chance now
0:09:21 > 0:09:25that there would only be one journalist in a country
0:09:25 > 0:09:30to report on a big battle, big news, anywhere.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34And you don't need much these days to get the story out.
0:09:34 > 0:09:38If you have to, you can do it all with a smartphone -
0:09:39 > 0:09:45this tiny piece of technology, that can film, take photographs,
0:09:45 > 0:09:48tweet, access the internet,
0:09:48 > 0:09:52broadcast live on ISDN-quality lines -
0:09:52 > 0:09:54everything we need to do in the field.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57And that's what my colleague, Paul Danahar,
0:09:57 > 0:09:59our Middle East bureau chief did,
0:09:59 > 0:10:03when he found himself at the scene of a massacre in Syria,
0:10:03 > 0:10:06armed only with a smartphone.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11The observers had been trying for more than 24 hours
0:10:11 > 0:10:13to get into the village of Kabir.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17In the end, the flies found the evidence of the massacre
0:10:17 > 0:10:20before the UN did.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22The first house had been gutted by fire,
0:10:22 > 0:10:25but the stench of burnt flesh still hung heavy in the air.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30The scene in the next house was even worse.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33The UN have come here to try and find out
0:10:33 > 0:10:36what happened in this village, and what's clear already
0:10:36 > 0:10:39is whoever carried out this attack, it was...
0:10:39 > 0:10:42DROWNED BY SPEECH IN ARABIC
0:10:42 > 0:10:46..and moved into the houses like the one I'm standing in now.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49In front of me here are pieces of people's brains on the floor,
0:10:49 > 0:10:52there is a tablecloth covered in blood and flesh,
0:10:52 > 0:10:55and in the corner, the blood has been pushed into a pile -
0:10:55 > 0:10:58someone's tried to clean it up, and frankly, given up,
0:10:58 > 0:10:59because there's simply too much of it.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01In this house and one behind me,
0:11:01 > 0:11:04there are signs of an appalling crime having taken place.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08And if we, the journalists, aren't on the scene,
0:11:08 > 0:11:14there will almost always be someone with the same kind of smartphone,
0:11:14 > 0:11:17who can tweet a thought, a picture,
0:11:17 > 0:11:20upload a video to YouTube or Facebook,
0:11:20 > 0:11:22or whatever social media they serve.
0:11:22 > 0:11:27There may never be another television moment
0:11:27 > 0:11:32like Michael Buerk's exclusive and haunting report
0:11:32 > 0:11:36from the 1983 famine in Ethiopia.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41Dawn, and as the sun breaks through the piercing chill of night
0:11:41 > 0:11:45on the plain outside Korum, it lights up a biblical famine,
0:11:45 > 0:11:47now, in the 20th century.
0:11:47 > 0:11:53This place, say workers here, is the closest thing to hell on earth.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01Thousands of wasted people are coming here for help.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03Many find only death.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06They flood in every day from villages hundreds of miles away,
0:12:06 > 0:12:10dulled by hunger, driven beyond the point of desperation.
0:12:13 > 0:12:1615,000 children here now,
0:12:16 > 0:12:19suffering, confused, lost.
0:12:22 > 0:12:28Some call it one of the most influential pieces of television ever broadcast.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31It provoked a surge of compassion around the world.
0:12:31 > 0:12:36425 organisations broadcast the material,
0:12:36 > 0:12:41and of course, it led to the Live Aid concerts.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44Today's connected world may not lead
0:12:44 > 0:12:47to the same outpouring of generosity,
0:12:47 > 0:12:50as it did after Michael Buerk's legendary story.
0:12:50 > 0:12:55But it's very hard now for anyone to say,
0:12:55 > 0:12:58"I didn't know it was happening."
0:12:58 > 0:13:05But will we still ever - get the story out first?
0:13:05 > 0:13:10And does that mean the end for broadcast journalists?
0:13:10 > 0:13:16A lot of news now is in the hands of the people, quite literally.
0:13:16 > 0:13:22So what is our future when so much has changed and keeps changing?
0:13:24 > 0:13:27To answer that question, let me just tell you a little bit
0:13:27 > 0:13:31about my own journey through social media.
0:13:31 > 0:13:35About three years ago, one of my editors told us,
0:13:35 > 0:13:38"You should all be on Twitter and Facebook."
0:13:38 > 0:13:41I refused. "Too busy.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45"No use to me, no use to my journalism.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48"What could I possibly say in those tiny tweets?
0:13:48 > 0:13:50"Facebook?
0:13:50 > 0:13:52"For teenagers."
0:13:52 > 0:13:58A few months later came my first, let me say, social media moment -
0:13:58 > 0:14:03Iran, June 2009, the presidential election.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07We were sitting in the BBC Tehran office,
0:14:07 > 0:14:12waiting for reactions on the streets to the controversial election results.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15Suddenly, someone called out,
0:14:15 > 0:14:18"People are gathering in Inquilab Square!"
0:14:18 > 0:14:22Like a flash, some of us instinctively headed to the desks
0:14:22 > 0:14:24at the far end of the office.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27The others headed to the sofas in the middle.
0:14:27 > 0:14:32One group was racing to check the latest newswires.
0:14:32 > 0:14:34The others, social media.
0:14:34 > 0:14:40Now, it just happened that most of the people checking social media
0:14:40 > 0:14:43were, let us say, the youngest people in the room.
0:14:43 > 0:14:44LAUGHTER
0:14:44 > 0:14:46And nearly all of them were Iranian.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49And those hunched over their computer terminals
0:14:49 > 0:14:54and much-loved wire services were, yes, people like me.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57But I was quite young then.
0:14:57 > 0:15:02Now, guess who found out first what was happening on the streets?
0:15:02 > 0:15:07I poked my head above the computer terminal and looked across the room,
0:15:07 > 0:15:13and said, "Guys, did you notice that something, um...
0:15:13 > 0:15:17- "generational just happened?" - LAUGHTER
0:15:17 > 0:15:21But I still wasn't completely sold.
0:15:21 > 0:15:26And yet you couldn't ignore the growing impact of social media.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29Not in a place like Iran,
0:15:29 > 0:15:33not at the time of what was called the Green Revolution.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36The authorities were telling foreign journalists
0:15:36 > 0:15:39that they couldn't go into the streets, they couldn't move freely,
0:15:39 > 0:15:43to cover what they described as "unauthorised gatherings."
0:15:43 > 0:15:46And our visas soon ran out.
0:15:46 > 0:15:51In Iran, social media became virtually the only way
0:15:51 > 0:15:55we could see and be part of what was happening.
0:15:55 > 0:16:01It was activists and bystanders who sent an SOS to the world,
0:16:01 > 0:16:06who went out into the streets and sent 140 characters
0:16:06 > 0:16:10of excitement, of anger, of fear.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14Or dispatched memorable images of defiant crowds,
0:16:14 > 0:16:20clouds of tear gas, running battles on the streets.
0:16:20 > 0:16:24Because of reporting restrictions imposed by the Iranian authorities,
0:16:24 > 0:16:26most of the images coming out of Iran
0:16:26 > 0:16:29have been filmed by demonstrators and put on the internet.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39This video was sent to the BBC. We can't verify its source,
0:16:39 > 0:16:43but it appears to show shooting from a militia base.
0:16:46 > 0:16:47CHANTING
0:16:58 > 0:17:02A BBC editor who monitored what he called, in inverted commas,
0:17:02 > 0:17:07"Twitter's coverage" of those historic days, noted that at one point
0:17:07 > 0:17:12there were anywhere between 200 and 2,500 updates a minute.
0:17:12 > 0:17:18Suddenly, the great advantages and disadvantages were clear.
0:17:18 > 0:17:24Twitter and Facebook gave us a new window on an extraordinary story.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28They didn't just tell us that something was happening -
0:17:28 > 0:17:33they took us inside the heads and the hearts of those making the news.
0:17:33 > 0:17:38It took us inside the stories in a much more intimate way
0:17:38 > 0:17:41than the traditional, detached journalism
0:17:41 > 0:17:45of who, what, when, where and why.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49But were we getting the full story? No.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51Much of it was on one side -
0:17:51 > 0:17:55the opposition to President Ahmadinejad's re-election.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58But then the government got wise and set up its own Twitter accounts,
0:17:58 > 0:18:01and launched its own social media campaign
0:18:01 > 0:18:07to fight what was turning into the biggest news battle in town.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12Now, back to our battles at the BBC,
0:18:12 > 0:18:17and my long-suffering, social media obsessed editor.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19Now he was telling us,
0:18:19 > 0:18:23"Look, if you don't get on Facebook or Twitter...
0:18:25 > 0:18:29"..you should look for a new job, because if you don't get on them,
0:18:29 > 0:18:31"you're not doing your job."
0:18:33 > 0:18:37So many ignored him. But many didn't.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40And I had already decided to put my toes
0:18:40 > 0:18:43in the murky waters of social media.
0:18:43 > 0:18:49I decided that I would use it IF it was useful.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52So what conversation to choose?
0:18:52 > 0:18:57I decided to choose a small, but a very worthy one.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00Afghan women activists were using this weapon
0:19:00 > 0:19:03in their war for greater rights
0:19:03 > 0:19:06as part of the wider war in their country.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09Of course, they were already used to being followed,
0:19:09 > 0:19:13sadly, by intelligence agencies and warlords.
0:19:13 > 0:19:19But now they were being followed by women activists around the world,
0:19:19 > 0:19:22journalists and people who were just interested in their stories.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26There was a vibrant conversation, and I became part of it.
0:19:26 > 0:19:33And then I crossed the border to Pakistan, to my first big story,
0:19:33 > 0:19:36where I used a mobile telephone
0:19:36 > 0:19:39as much as I relied on a television camera.
0:19:39 > 0:19:44It was a story of epic floods tearing across the country,
0:19:44 > 0:19:47from Kashmir to Karachi,
0:19:47 > 0:19:51the worst natural disaster that Pakistan had ever seen.
0:19:51 > 0:19:57In covering this story, we needed to know where the water was flowing,
0:19:57 > 0:20:00where help was needed, what people were saying.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06So I would tweet. "It's pouring rain in Peshawar.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09"The main roads into the city are washed out.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11"#Pakfloods."
0:20:11 > 0:20:15That was the hashtag used by most people following this story.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18Within seconds, someone responded -
0:20:18 > 0:20:20"It's raining in Rawalpindi too.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23"The roads are full of water. Are you coming here?
0:20:23 > 0:20:26"#Pakfloods."
0:20:26 > 0:20:28And from Karachi in the south -
0:20:28 > 0:20:32"It's not raining in Karachi yet. But we hear it will.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36"We're all worried. #Pakfloods."
0:20:36 > 0:20:40Wow. An instant conversation.
0:20:40 > 0:20:45It almost felt like my own personal news channel.
0:20:45 > 0:20:49I felt connected in a totally new way.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52It gave new information and insights
0:20:52 > 0:20:55into the mood of a nation at a time of crisis.
0:20:55 > 0:21:00It let people on Twitter know that the BBC was on the ground,
0:21:00 > 0:21:04covering their story, interested in their stories.
0:21:04 > 0:21:09We were beginning to understand the huge potential
0:21:09 > 0:21:11to communicate directly with audiences
0:21:11 > 0:21:13we couldn't reach otherwise,
0:21:13 > 0:21:17get tipped off about stories, gather information,
0:21:17 > 0:21:19see what other journalists were doing
0:21:19 > 0:21:22even our rivals
0:21:22 > 0:21:25and we could post links to our own stories,
0:21:25 > 0:21:28so our own audiences grew even bigger.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32More and more people who matter to the story
0:21:32 > 0:21:37were joining Twitter and Facebook activists, officials, journalists,
0:21:37 > 0:21:40and people from all walks of life
0:21:40 > 0:21:43who just wanted to join a conversation
0:21:43 > 0:21:48that was both very local and truly global.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53By the time the events that we call the Arab Spring
0:21:53 > 0:21:59erupted in early 2011, many of us were hooked.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03Many of us now say we couldn't have covered these events
0:22:03 > 0:22:06across the Middle East and North Africa and beyond
0:22:06 > 0:22:09if we weren't following the blur of posts
0:22:09 > 0:22:11by activists and the engaged,
0:22:11 > 0:22:15and the tsunami of videos being uploaded.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19CHANTING
0:22:23 > 0:22:24WHISTLING
0:22:32 > 0:22:34SHOUTING
0:22:34 > 0:22:35GUNSHOT
0:22:35 > 0:22:37CHANTING
0:22:51 > 0:22:55There's been a lot of discussion about whether these uprisings
0:22:55 > 0:22:56were in fact Facebook revolutions
0:22:56 > 0:22:59political movements made possible
0:22:59 > 0:23:01by the mobilising power of social media.
0:23:01 > 0:23:02That's another story.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06It's part of a much more complex political story.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09But there's no question that for activists,
0:23:09 > 0:23:11for analysts and correspondents
0:23:11 > 0:23:14following these unprecedented events,
0:23:14 > 0:23:21that the unprecedented power of social media was an essential tool.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23And the conversation is huge.
0:23:23 > 0:23:28Twitter now has some 500 million users worldwide -
0:23:28 > 0:23:32there's some 340 million messages a day.
0:23:33 > 0:23:37But can you always be sure who is tweeting?
0:23:37 > 0:23:40As the cynics say, it could just be a dog,
0:23:40 > 0:23:42or a prankster,
0:23:42 > 0:23:47someone with an axe to grind, someone who's spinning the news.
0:23:47 > 0:23:52And what about that tempting quality of what we call,
0:23:52 > 0:23:56"The story that's too good to check?"
0:23:56 > 0:24:00There have been some momentous mistakes.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03World leaders, including Margaret Thatcher,
0:24:03 > 0:24:05have been pronounced dead more than once.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08And families have been informed
0:24:08 > 0:24:13about the real loss of their loved ones on Twitter first.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17Sadly, that happened in the case of some well-known correspondents
0:24:17 > 0:24:20covering the events of the Arab Spring.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22And sometimes, as it turns out,
0:24:22 > 0:24:27the Twitter personality is not the person you think it is.
0:24:34 > 0:24:39The Gay Girl in Damascus turned out to be a man from the United States.
0:24:39 > 0:24:44My intention was never to hurt anyone.
0:24:44 > 0:24:48In fact, the only intentions I had, besides my own vanity,
0:24:48 > 0:24:54was to draw attention to what I believe are important issues,
0:24:54 > 0:24:59and second, I am somebody who feels guilt a lot.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03And I'm feeling incredibly guilty about hurting people,
0:25:03 > 0:25:07and harming causes that I personally, as a human being,
0:25:07 > 0:25:08believe in.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12Let me tell you my own cautionary tale
0:25:12 > 0:25:15about using someone else's material.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19On one trip to Syria, we arranged to do a live television interview
0:25:19 > 0:25:22with the presidential advisor Bouthaina Shaaban.
0:25:22 > 0:25:27We needed to have the strongest case to put to her,
0:25:27 > 0:25:31so we chose the story of Zainab al-Hosni -
0:25:31 > 0:25:3719 years old, said to be the first woman to die in detention.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40Human rights groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch
0:25:40 > 0:25:46had taken up her case. Zainab's story was horrendous.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48And this is how it appeared on the internet,
0:25:48 > 0:25:51and set off an extraordinary chain of events.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55And I should warn you, some of the pictures are distressing.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13MAN SPEAKS ARABIC
0:26:27 > 0:26:32This was a shocking story of a young woman whose decapitated body,
0:26:32 > 0:26:38limbs detached, was handed over to her family in the morgue.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42Her brother was an activist, and it was said she paid the price.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45This is how CNN covered it.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48And notice how their story is almost completely based
0:26:48 > 0:26:53on amateur video, which they tried their best to verify.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56CHANTING "They killed the Rose, Zainab"
0:26:56 > 0:27:00were the placards carried by dozens of women in the city of Homs,
0:27:00 > 0:27:03protesting her slaughter,
0:27:03 > 0:27:06and chanting for the downfall of the regime.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08Her crime?
0:27:08 > 0:27:11Zainab's older brother, Muhammad, was an activist,
0:27:11 > 0:27:14well-known for leading demonstrations
0:27:14 > 0:27:16and treating the wounded in Homs.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19For months, he had been evading the authorities.
0:27:19 > 0:27:21The family says that the security forces
0:27:21 > 0:27:24demanded Mohammed in exchange for Zainab.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27On September 10th, the family says
0:27:27 > 0:27:30Muhammad was wounded in a demonstration.
0:27:30 > 0:27:34He came back to his loved ones a corpse.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36Tortured to death, they believe.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38The family had just collected Muhammad's body
0:27:38 > 0:27:41from the hospital when doctors told them
0:27:41 > 0:27:45there was a young woman named Zainab's body in the morgue.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48A few days later, they received her mangled remains.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50CNN cannot independently confirm
0:27:50 > 0:27:54the family's account of what happened.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57When I interviewed the presidential advisor in Damascus,
0:27:57 > 0:27:59she didn't deny the story.
0:27:59 > 0:28:01Take one of the most recent examples,
0:28:01 > 0:28:03which Amnesty International has called,
0:28:03 > 0:28:06"The most disturbing case in detention."
0:28:06 > 0:28:1019-year-old Zainab al-Hosni, the first woman to die in detention.
0:28:10 > 0:28:14Her parents found, by mistake, her decapitated body in the morgue.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16How do you explain that?
0:28:16 > 0:28:19Well, there are so many people who have been found maimed and killed, but...
0:28:19 > 0:28:24- But you must know about this case, Dr Shaaban...- But I refuse...- You've always stood up for women's rights.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28- I know...- What do you say to the case of Zainab?- I refute the accusation
0:28:28 > 0:28:32that it is the government or the country or security people killing these people.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35Who decapitated her and tied her arms, her hands and her feet?
0:28:35 > 0:28:39Well, I can show you ten neighbours of my family in Homs
0:28:39 > 0:28:44who have been killed and maimed and strangled by armed gangs,
0:28:44 > 0:28:47and this is why we need the world to stand with us,
0:28:47 > 0:28:51in order to fight this kind of terrorism.
0:28:51 > 0:28:55Then, a week later, after I'd left Syria,
0:28:55 > 0:28:58this story appeared on Syrian state television.
0:28:58 > 0:28:59SHE SPEAKS ARABIC
0:29:16 > 0:29:19Zainab al-Hosni. Alive in Syria.
0:29:19 > 0:29:24The truth of this story still remains a mystery.
0:29:24 > 0:29:28But videos posted by activists on the internet
0:29:28 > 0:29:31had been enough to persuade many news organisations
0:29:31 > 0:29:34and human rights groups to take up her story.
0:29:34 > 0:29:38So how do we minimise the risks of reporting a story
0:29:38 > 0:29:41which turns out to be wrong?
0:29:42 > 0:29:46The BBC has long relied on what is called UGC -
0:29:46 > 0:29:49user generated content.
0:29:49 > 0:29:53But it's grown from a trickle of videos and photographs
0:29:53 > 0:29:55and audience feedback
0:29:55 > 0:29:59to a tide of material, coming into the BBC,
0:29:59 > 0:30:02or being found out there, on numerous servers.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05Streams of eyewitness accounts from all points of view,
0:30:05 > 0:30:07from all points of the globe.
0:30:07 > 0:30:13To cope with it, the BBC set up an established team of journalists.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15And the UGC Hub was born.
0:30:17 > 0:30:19There was still a lot of scepticism
0:30:19 > 0:30:23about what the value of a hub like this would be,
0:30:23 > 0:30:26but a week after the UGC Hub pilot project was set up,
0:30:26 > 0:30:28the July 7th bombings happened.
0:30:28 > 0:30:31And that completely transformed, I think,
0:30:31 > 0:30:35the way many of us saw the relationship
0:30:35 > 0:30:38between us as a news organisation and our audience,
0:30:38 > 0:30:40because whilst we and many other news organisations
0:30:40 > 0:30:43were still reporting a power surge on the London Underground,
0:30:43 > 0:30:44our audience were telling us
0:30:44 > 0:30:46what was actually happening on the ground.
0:30:46 > 0:30:51We're now a 24/7 team of about 20 producers.
0:30:51 > 0:30:53We can sort of give filters of confidence
0:30:53 > 0:30:56in terms of how accurate or authentic
0:30:56 > 0:30:58we think a bit of content is.
0:30:58 > 0:31:01It's often very difficult to actually get to the source
0:31:01 > 0:31:05of that content creator, and so in these types of situations,
0:31:05 > 0:31:07what we've done is to basically apply a journalistic
0:31:07 > 0:31:09or news assessment.
0:31:09 > 0:31:13And quite often we'll use services like Google Maps
0:31:13 > 0:31:15and Google satellite imagery searches
0:31:15 > 0:31:18to see whether particular locations do match up.
0:31:18 > 0:31:22In addition to that, it's listening out to the sound,
0:31:22 > 0:31:23does it sound like it's authentic audio?
0:31:23 > 0:31:25And then also, does it look like
0:31:25 > 0:31:27there's any manipulation in the video,
0:31:27 > 0:31:29has there been any editing in it?
0:31:29 > 0:31:32All of these things would raise questions.
0:31:32 > 0:31:36I can give you a lot of examples where we've stopped stuff going on air.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39And one particular one that comes to mind was a video
0:31:39 > 0:31:42that appeared to show a man who was being dug into a hole
0:31:42 > 0:31:47and effectively being buried alive by Syrian army men.
0:31:47 > 0:31:50There were other news organisations that were already running it
0:31:50 > 0:31:53or referencing it, but we had some concerns from the outset.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55It just didn't quite look right.
0:31:55 > 0:31:59The sequence didn't look right, and it cut very abruptly.
0:31:59 > 0:32:03Also, the sound sounded too good, it sounded too clear.
0:32:03 > 0:32:05SHOUTING IN ARABIC
0:32:05 > 0:32:08We just weren't confident that this video was accurate,
0:32:08 > 0:32:10so we didn't put it on air.
0:32:10 > 0:32:12Subsequently, a lot of the social media sites
0:32:12 > 0:32:15which had uploaded this video started deleting those videos
0:32:15 > 0:32:18as well, because we started sharing what we knew on Twitter,
0:32:18 > 0:32:20and warning people that this was a video
0:32:20 > 0:32:23that we didn't think was particularly legitimate.
0:32:24 > 0:32:26And it's not just the BBC.
0:32:26 > 0:32:29Every newsroom is now trying to keep up
0:32:29 > 0:32:31with this fast-changing news world,
0:32:31 > 0:32:36struggling to establish ground rules for their own journalists
0:32:36 > 0:32:38posting their own messages.
0:32:40 > 0:32:44We all now work five times harder than we ever did in television before.
0:32:44 > 0:32:50We are blogging, we are writing, we are reporting, we are editing.
0:32:50 > 0:32:52We're tweeting.
0:32:52 > 0:32:53It's a busy old time.
0:32:55 > 0:32:59We do have social media guidance generally,
0:32:59 > 0:33:01which has a few don'ts in it,
0:33:01 > 0:33:04so, for example, we ask staff not to talk about their political opinions,
0:33:04 > 0:33:07not being partisan, not being critical of colleagues,
0:33:07 > 0:33:09not revealing confidential information, and so on,
0:33:09 > 0:33:13but by and large, our aim with it is actually to be as encouraging
0:33:13 > 0:33:17and open as possible, because that's how social media works.
0:33:17 > 0:33:21If you were to simplify it, it's, "Don't be stupid."
0:33:21 > 0:33:23Exercise common sense.
0:33:23 > 0:33:25Think twice before pressing "tweet".
0:33:25 > 0:33:29Keep clear lines between personal use and professional use,
0:33:29 > 0:33:32although sometimes my rants on Scottish football
0:33:32 > 0:33:33do leak over into the personal.
0:33:33 > 0:33:36If people wouldn't say it on screen,
0:33:36 > 0:33:38they shouldn't be saying it on Twitter or Facebook.
0:33:38 > 0:33:41The real danger is that you hear a really fantastic rumour,
0:33:41 > 0:33:43and you spread it.
0:33:43 > 0:33:46I mean, there was a rumour that Piers Morgan
0:33:46 > 0:33:50had been disciplined or possibly even removed from his programme,
0:33:50 > 0:33:52and I tweeted some reference to this,
0:33:52 > 0:33:54and suddenly realised, of course, it was wrong.
0:33:54 > 0:33:56Seriously wrong. Potentially libellously wrong.
0:33:56 > 0:33:59But he was very nice about it and we got away with it,
0:33:59 > 0:34:01but since then I've been much more judicious.
0:34:03 > 0:34:04I suppose the other one is just
0:34:04 > 0:34:06when to break a story and when not to.
0:34:06 > 0:34:12In terms of breaking news, we ask our staff to file it and tweet it
0:34:12 > 0:34:14at least at the same time.
0:34:14 > 0:34:17We've actually built a new system which means
0:34:17 > 0:34:20that we can break news on air and on Twitter simultaneously.
0:34:22 > 0:34:26If it's something that everyone's going to get to in due course,
0:34:26 > 0:34:29if it's the G20 protests or the Arab Spring,
0:34:29 > 0:34:31it would be crazy to wait.
0:34:31 > 0:34:34We need to get it out, and then the rest can follow
0:34:34 > 0:34:35in the programme.
0:34:38 > 0:34:41So...
0:34:41 > 0:34:46Have we broadcasters just become no more than a bunch of tweeters
0:34:46 > 0:34:48and bloggers, just like everybody else?
0:34:48 > 0:34:53Is it just a matter of time before this social media revolution
0:34:53 > 0:34:57topples us from the top of news?
0:34:57 > 0:35:02Survival starts by recognising there is a new news order.
0:35:02 > 0:35:05Now we won't always be first with the news.
0:35:05 > 0:35:07Twitter may get there first.
0:35:07 > 0:35:11Now we won't always get the first compelling videos.
0:35:11 > 0:35:16Facebook or YouTube may show them before we do.
0:35:16 > 0:35:20But it doesn't mean the downfall of the regime,
0:35:20 > 0:35:23our regime, our way of broadcasting.
0:35:23 > 0:35:29Contrary to expectations, during strong social media stories
0:35:29 > 0:35:34like the England riots, Japan's earthquake, Norway's massacre,
0:35:34 > 0:35:40viewing figures for BBC television news actually spiked.
0:35:41 > 0:35:45Strip away this new-fangled technology,
0:35:45 > 0:35:49this incessant stream of information,
0:35:49 > 0:35:51and what is it all about?
0:35:51 > 0:35:55Authority, journalism,
0:35:55 > 0:35:56storytelling.
0:35:56 > 0:36:03Because while everything has changed, nothing has changed.
0:36:03 > 0:36:10In our business, the story and the storyteller still matter.
0:36:10 > 0:36:14They still do. And it's the faces,
0:36:14 > 0:36:17the much-followed, much-appreciated correspondents,
0:36:17 > 0:36:21the best in this business, who have been on our screens
0:36:21 > 0:36:26and in our homes for as long as anyone can remember.
0:36:26 > 0:36:29And the new faces who keep emerging.
0:36:30 > 0:36:34Perhaps there is something that's reassuring,
0:36:34 > 0:36:37a reality check, if you like,
0:36:37 > 0:36:40of putting aside this constantly shifting
0:36:40 > 0:36:46and sometimes confusing kaleidoscope of the internet
0:36:46 > 0:36:50for something more solid, more trusted,
0:36:50 > 0:36:55the programmes and correspondents that have stood the test of time.
0:36:55 > 0:37:00Because speed is only one part of the news.
0:37:00 > 0:37:03Above all, we need accuracy.
0:37:03 > 0:37:06Any broadcaster worth anything at all
0:37:06 > 0:37:10would want to be second with the news and right,
0:37:10 > 0:37:14rather than first and wrong.
0:37:14 > 0:37:19Many reports on Twitter during the Iranian elections
0:37:19 > 0:37:20were just that.
0:37:20 > 0:37:23"Mousavi was under house arrest."
0:37:23 > 0:37:25He wasn't.
0:37:25 > 0:37:27"The election had been declared invalid."
0:37:27 > 0:37:29It hadn't been.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32In a global village awash with information,
0:37:32 > 0:37:36with tweets and blogs and posts and instant video clips,
0:37:36 > 0:37:38who do you trust?
0:37:38 > 0:37:43The people who have to get it right in order to survive.
0:37:43 > 0:37:48And that's what the strong viewing figures for broadcast news are telling us.
0:37:48 > 0:37:56A social media revolution could have signalled the end of broadcast news.
0:37:56 > 0:38:00But instead, it's become its greatest confirmation.
0:38:02 > 0:38:04So how do we keep that trust?
0:38:04 > 0:38:07The best way is to be there -
0:38:07 > 0:38:11on the ground, talking face to face,
0:38:11 > 0:38:17feeling the heat, eating the dust, talking to everyone and anyone
0:38:17 > 0:38:21who can help clarify a complicated story.
0:38:21 > 0:38:24That's journalism.
0:38:24 > 0:38:27Take one of our biggest foreign stories right now
0:38:27 > 0:38:31Syria, now said to be in a state of civil war.
0:38:31 > 0:38:36There have been huge amounts of videos and eyewitness accounts
0:38:36 > 0:38:40from places like the embattled Syrian city of Homs.
0:38:40 > 0:38:44But for me, until I went myself
0:38:44 > 0:38:47to the devastated neighbourhood of Baba Amr,
0:38:47 > 0:38:52I didn't really know just how bad it was,
0:38:52 > 0:38:55and what it felt like to be there.
0:38:55 > 0:39:00And that's what we try to convey to our audiences.
0:39:00 > 0:39:04Someone asked me if this next report, which led the Ten O'Clock News,
0:39:04 > 0:39:07was actually run in slow motion.
0:39:07 > 0:39:09It wasn't. It's just that all of us,
0:39:09 > 0:39:13including the UN monitors we were travelling with
0:39:13 > 0:39:16and our experienced cameraman, Phil Goodwin,
0:39:16 > 0:39:20were holding their breath in the midst of real danger.
0:39:26 > 0:39:31Just notice how slowly we are moving through this neighbourhood.
0:39:31 > 0:39:34The Syrian police and military have left us.
0:39:34 > 0:39:35It's the UN monitors...
0:39:37 > 0:39:39..in an area controlled by the opposition.
0:39:42 > 0:39:45Not a single person is on the streets.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49The area is completely destroyed.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55- But hospitality trumps fear as this woman greets me.- Salaam.
0:39:55 > 0:39:58I ask her son if he still plays with his friends.
0:39:58 > 0:40:00SHE SPEAKS ARABIC
0:40:00 > 0:40:02He replies, "They're all dead."
0:40:02 > 0:40:05And his father and brothers have been taken away.
0:40:05 > 0:40:10His mother welcomes me into her home, but not the camera.
0:40:10 > 0:40:12SHE SPEAKS ARABIC
0:40:12 > 0:40:15"What can I do but wait for news?", she says,
0:40:15 > 0:40:20"I cry every night and day. I have no man to protect me.
0:40:20 > 0:40:22"No-one to help me."
0:40:23 > 0:40:27And then soldiers interrupt us, uninvited.
0:40:27 > 0:40:30They say they're worried about my security.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33As I'm ushered out, I worry about hers.
0:40:34 > 0:40:39We've seen and heard so many terrible stories
0:40:39 > 0:40:46about how Syrian children are being targeted, terrorised and tortured in this war.
0:40:46 > 0:40:51But it's still the stories, told by trusted storytellers,
0:40:51 > 0:40:55that have the greatest impact. Reports like Ian Pannell's,
0:40:55 > 0:40:59with Darren Conway's sensitive filming, from northern Syria,
0:40:59 > 0:41:02that I and many other viewers won't forget.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08This is where some of the artillery landed.
0:41:08 > 0:41:11It's difficult to see what the value of the attack was.
0:41:11 > 0:41:15As far as we know, no fighters were staying here.
0:41:15 > 0:41:20Just six boys sleeping in this bedroom when the shell hit.
0:41:20 > 0:41:21HE SIGHS
0:41:21 > 0:41:24And so, another father mourns...
0:41:24 > 0:41:26HE SPEAKS ARABIC
0:41:27 > 0:41:29..as the innocent suffer the most.
0:41:30 > 0:41:32One of Mohammed's sons is now dead.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35The others are injured.
0:41:35 > 0:41:39We were taken to see the boys, wounded and in hiding.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42The family say they can't take them to the hospital for treatment,
0:41:42 > 0:41:46afraid they'll be arrested if they do.
0:41:46 > 0:41:50The rebels say this is why they fight,
0:41:50 > 0:41:53but in a deadly cycle, so the bloodshed only grows.
0:41:54 > 0:41:57HE SPEAKS ARABIC
0:41:57 > 0:42:00Eight-year-old Rayan struggled to tell his story.
0:42:00 > 0:42:02HE SPEAKS ARABIC
0:42:06 > 0:42:08"The Syrian army did this to me," he says.
0:42:09 > 0:42:11The rebels vow revenge.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20Stories like that must be told.
0:42:20 > 0:42:24But it's not always easy or safe to be there on the ground.
0:42:24 > 0:42:28More and more journalists, local and foreign,
0:42:28 > 0:42:33are being killed on the job. There are times, and places,
0:42:33 > 0:42:36where we simply cannot be where it's happening.
0:42:36 > 0:42:41In these cases, social media can be our ally, not our enemy,
0:42:41 > 0:42:44in trying to tell all sides of the story -
0:42:44 > 0:42:46as long as we're careful.
0:42:46 > 0:42:50And it's important in another sense.
0:42:50 > 0:42:52Because this social media revolution,
0:42:52 > 0:42:55like all of the revolutions we've been reporting on,
0:42:55 > 0:42:58is in a sense about democracy.
0:42:58 > 0:43:02Journalism is no longer an exclusive club
0:43:02 > 0:43:04enjoyed and practised by the few.
0:43:04 > 0:43:09We now cohabit a much wider, a more open space.
0:43:09 > 0:43:11We keep an eye on social media,
0:43:11 > 0:43:13they keep an eye on us.
0:43:13 > 0:43:17And that's not such a bad thing at a time of ever greater scrutiny
0:43:17 > 0:43:19of media ethics and practices.
0:43:19 > 0:43:23The social media revolution also empowers the audiences.
0:43:23 > 0:43:27We hear from you immediately, and you expect to hear from us.
0:43:27 > 0:43:31We broadcast your comments and your criticism.
0:43:31 > 0:43:33It's part of our coverage.
0:43:33 > 0:43:38Our monopoly on delivering the news has been broken.
0:43:38 > 0:43:40There's always been a saying in our business
0:43:40 > 0:43:44"You're only as good as your next story."
0:43:44 > 0:43:49We have to keep confirming that we should be watched and listened to
0:43:49 > 0:43:55for our editorial judgment, for our talent to inform and entertain,
0:43:55 > 0:43:57and because you still trust us.
0:43:59 > 0:44:03The history of television news has been written on a canvas
0:44:03 > 0:44:07of ever-changing technology, ever-growing threats,
0:44:07 > 0:44:09ever greater opportunities.
0:44:09 > 0:44:14And now it's confronting a challenge so great,
0:44:14 > 0:44:19it seems to threaten the end of broadcast news.
0:44:19 > 0:44:24But in this revolution of social media,
0:44:24 > 0:44:28we can be on the right side of history.
0:44:28 > 0:44:31But only if we approach this story
0:44:31 > 0:44:34the way we do all the rest of our news
0:44:34 > 0:44:37by trying to understand it,
0:44:37 > 0:44:40by trying to get it right.
0:44:41 > 0:44:43Thank you.
0:44:43 > 0:44:45APPLAUSE
0:44:59 > 0:45:03Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd