I hope this isn’t going to be the extent of your coverage of this meeting. Twitter’s the hot item these days and all, but come on ya’ll, stop jumping on bandwagons and report the damn news…and the byline is attributed to ‘Anonymous’? Really? I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen that particular byline in any paper of note….

This is a really important story to many people. It should be handled with a little bit more journalistic integrity. If you’re in a rush to get the story out and don’t have time to type up a proper article, I would rather see an unedited video of the meeting posted instead.

I agree. Tatuaje said it all.

Whoa, wait till you try the bandwagon. Some ride!

Sorry about the “anonymous” byline. I had no idea it would show up like that. But to continue responding ...

I wrote the intro to this blog post in a flurry, while I set aside my dinner, because I was excited by the sort of triple-base, line drive that had just happened: the meeting coverage of, like you say, an important issue; using Twitter to get the word out as it happened; and Xpress’ first professional/amateur news-reporting collaboration. Not bad, I think; but I’ll take your passionate and quick comments as a sign that people care and expect a lot from Xpress.

The reporting credits were duly identified as going to Jason Sandford and Jim Barton. I should have stood up to take the lumps for the opening remarks.

And I’m figuring that there’ll be a story from Jason Sandford, who’ll file his story more on an"old-school journalism” schedule: tomorrow.

As someone who desperately wanted to attend, but had obligations that precede community action, it was awesome to get up to date insights as if I was there.  Especially reading it from two points of views (and even more would have been appreciated).  I’m certainly no twitterholic & I recognize the value of a well researched report, but I enjoy the benefit of this instant journalist technique. It is proving to be quite useful & insightful.

I dig the Twittration, though it’s certainly no more than a glimpse.  It takes a real narrative to tell the story well.  The immediacy and journalist/citizen collaboration are nowhere else, so kudos.

Here’s my post at ScruHoo on the topic.  It wants for Jason’s story:  http://scrutinyhooligans.us/2009/03/09/communities-coming-together/

Thanks, Jeff….

Came across a little harsh in my response, but my basic premise stays the same in the harsh light of day.

It’s true: I do care about and expect a lot from the Xpress. It has become THE publication of note for the area so I will hold ya’ll up to higher standards than, say, the ACT. (Which, admittedly, isn’t saying much, but…)

I just hope that, while embracing this new technology, the Xpress doesn’t place too much reliance on it. It can serve a purpose, as JBo pointed out, and I did somewhat follow the Twitter sidebar during the meeting, but, and obviously this is just one man’s opinion, it is no replacement for a well written article or video documentation. It is too easy to take these little ‘tweets’ out of context or, because the ‘reporter’ is tweeting, to miss an important point altogether.

I look forward to reading the complete acccount of the meeting. Because, like I said before, this is an important story for the area. I hope I haven’t distracted anyone from it.

tatuaje, I would characterize your first post as “rash” more than “harsh,” but rash is not good.  I would appreciate it if we’d all give one another a little more consideration as we take on the entrenched interests of NCDOT and the A/B Chamber of Commerce.  Lashing out at MtnX for twittering last night’s event simply does not make any sense at all.

In fact, what we’re looking for in the whole I-26 discussion is more reason and thoughfulness, because that should lead to the conclusion that 4B is the way to go.  So let’s support one another here, okay?

One of the most important parts of the well designed Alternate 4B is the separation of of local traffic from highway traffic.  BILL DODGE