Ebola Media Debate on Social Media

Late last week when there was a dust-up about a patient in an El Paso hospital that may have had Ebola-like symptoms, social media exploded with rumors.

A reporter from KVIA and the editor of the El Paso Times had two different takes on the situation and I monitored the conversation and found it fascinating. The comparison of one very seasoned reporter from print media and a pretty studious television news reporter was a great contrast.

It was interesting to see the two approaches to the story. One the more traditional and methodical newspaper approach and the other was the get-the-info-to-the-public-quickly breaking news approach.

An interesting debate arose about being first versus being right and the responsibility of media to inform the public in a timely manner without causing confusion and alarm unnecessarily.

It was all centered around the establishment of whether or not it was factually accurate to say that the emergency room was closed. 

Interesting conversation.

LATER TODAY - More on the subdivision on the Eastside that had a protest yesterday and more on the Diaz/Haggerty debate last week.