Rupert Murdoch began 2012 by joining Twitter
This time last year I made the prediction that the media in 2011 would be dominated by the 80 year old media mogul at the helm of News International, things have moved on a bit since then.
If the first week of 2012 has confirmed anything, it is how the hold of traditional media outlets like Rupert Murdoch’s on setting the news agenda is increasingly being superseded by Twitter.The first week of the New Year brought us the media furore over Labour MP’s Diane Abbott’s tweet about “white people”, followed by Labour leader Ed Miliband tweeting what should have been an innocuous tribute to the late Blockbusters presenter Bob Holness. An unfortunate typo which left the show’s title being referred to as ‘blackbusters’ formed the basis of The Sun’s front page on Saturday.
In a short-space of time we’ve become accustomed to quotes from Twitter forming the basis of many newspaper and TV stories, and that’s before we even delve into the small matter of Twitter’s role in the Arab Spring Uprisings.
Twitter and its impact on sport
And in this London Olympic year, Twitter is already having a profound impact on sporting coverage too.
Outside of the revelations of sordid affairs and locker room posturing, Twitter has started to play an instrumental role in some sporting occasions.
The mysterious ‘man in the hat’, inexplicably interfering with ringside officials at Amir Khan’s WBA and IBF boxing ‘defeat’ last month has been smoked out, not by the diligence of the international governing bodies, but after weeks of speculation and revelations on Twitter.
we are just hoping for answers now, and we have left it with our promoters and legal team, apparently the ruling for someone interfering
— Amir Khan (@AmirKingKhan) January 7, 2012
The former light welterweight champion of the world now looks set to get his rematch.
Elsewhere, Manchester City’s captain Vinnie Kompany spent much of last week asking fans to tweet what they think he should say in his motivational team talk during yesterday’s FA Cup derby match against Manchester United.
The winning entry is being made into a poster:
In the end, City’s captain undoubtedly did play a pivotal role in Sunday’s cup qualifier, having got himself sent off for a tackle on Nani in the 12th minute. Manchester City went on to lose 3-2. Too pumped up perhaps?
Murdoch himself began 2012 by joining Twitter’s 100 million chattering users too, although his partner Wendi Deng definitely did not.
The revenue side of Twitter may still be in its infancy, but with two gigantic social events on the horizon – Euro 2012 and the Olympics – the network’s reach and influence is only set to increase.
Follow my musings and breaking news on UK’s media scene: @DurraniMix
