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Will I use FB Newswire?

The blogger tells why this service is a must-have for journalists

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Itika Sharma Punit
Note to self in 2008: Check emails properly at the end of the day to ensure nothing is missed out.

Note to self in 2010: Check a, b, c, x, y, z websites and emails properly at the end of the day to ensure nothing is missed out. (This is when websites of all government departments started becoming active.)

Note to self in 2012: Check a, b, c, x, y, z websites, emails, and RSS feeds properly at the end of the day to ensure nothing is missed out.

Note to self in 2013: Check a, b, c, x, y, z websites, emails, RSS feeds, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn properly at the end of the day to ensure nothing is missed out.
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That is the timeline of my evolution as a journalist in the day and age of internet and mobility.

Social media has indeed led to a drastic evolution in my life over the years. My day, which once started with a bundle of newspapers each morning (and a huge bill to pay at the end of each month), today starts with browsing Twitter and Facebook on my phone (which is conveniently placed under my pillow) while I am still half in sleep. It just seems SO important to know what happened world over while I was sleeping, even before I get out of the bed.

This morning I woke up to some of my friends on Facebook discussing a new feature called ‘FB Newswire’. I knew I had to click-open the link after reading just the first few words of its description -- ‘resource for journalists’.

“FB Newswire is a resource for journalists that aggregates newsworthy social content shared publicly on Facebook by individuals and organisations,” read the FB page of this new feature. The feature is powered by News Corp's Storyful, the tool that verifies and manages copyright of news and video on social media platforms like Twitter.

FB Newswire is designed to help journalists share and embed newsworthy Facebook content that is made public by its members such as photos, status updates and videos. What more? It’s free!

(I am reminded of this conversation I had with the head of a top-notch startup incubator some days back. He asked me that if a team develops such a tool, would I be willing to pay a monthly subscription for it? Little did he know that FB Newswire was on its way.)

The most interesting part with FB Newswire for me is the fact that it could help me reach first-hand sources who would be updating their FB timelines and profiles with this information. Maybe, I can try and connect with them directly if I wish to get more information. (So, no more making random phonecalls to people, trying to find first-hand sources?)

“Look forward to first-person photos, videos, and status updates posted publicly on Facebook from the front lines of newsworthy events around the world which have been selected and verified by Storyful’s editorial team,” reads FB Newswire page.

Well, there’s certainly going to be an addition to my to-do list from today, but it would really be interesting to see how this works. Wonder if we could request Mr Zuckerberg to allow some modification and specification to filter and receive feeds/alerts on the news that I am looking out for?
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Note to self today: Keep refreshing every window on the computer and every app on the phone throughout waking hours to ensure nothing is missed out!!!

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First Published: Apr 25 2014 | 2:27 PM IST

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