Behind The Ball

MH370, ET702 show the pendulum swing towards independent news sources on social media

The news gets its news from social media, in aviation as in many other fields. But in a year with two very different major aviation incidents in its first three months – Ethiopian Airlines flight 702 and Malaysia Airlines flight 370 – it’s clear that social media is affecting the way news is broken, developed and analysed like never before.

The trend is firmly away from the general broadcast and print media towards independent outlets and specialist journalists. The author of a piece is becoming more of aclue to its accuracy and usefulness than where it is published. More specialist, knowledgeable voices are being heard and promoted.