Today in Bloomberg BusinessWeek, ScribbleLive’s CEO, Michael De Monte, debates whether Twitter qualifies as a journalistic vehicle (Spoiler: he says it doesn’t).

The emerging use of Twitter as a news medium ran smack into the limitations of live tweeting recently during the trial of Russell Williams, a former Canadian Air Force colonel. How did a respected base commander manage to live a double life as a sexual predator?

This question can’t be answered in 140-character chunks. That’s why true media and publications such as the National Post (disclosure: Post Media Network is a client of Scribble Technologies) covering the Williams trial are leveraging new technologies that marry social media with the traditional news gathering process. The difference between these forms of coverage is not speed—both are instant—but content and context.

Twitter works nicely for providing links to existing stories, but with all due respect to those who consider it the future of news, it is not a workable or desirable medium for journalism. Twitter’s limitations make it a poor medium for news coverage.

How much of a story can you tell in 140 characters? Just look at the following sample tweets from the Williams trial:

#Williams—Williams talking with lawyer while judge is speaking. 2 minutes ago via Twitter for iPhone

#Williams—Crown: Williams took bra and panties from the young girl’s bedroom. 7 minutes ago via Twitter for iPhone

#Williams—Crown: Williams spent hours at his Ottawa home—planning and taking pictures of himself in stolen lingerie and panties.

It’s a play-by-play with no context and no comment. It catalogs Williams’ depravity but offers no reflection on it.

I am not criticizing the journalist in this case. It is the tool that limits the expression. There is no way to extend the post other than to link to a previously existing story that would no longer be “live.”

By contrast, the coverage by the NationalPost pulled content from multiple sources to offer a chilling account of the Williams trial. It reads like a news story, albeit a new form of story, complete with photographs, courtroom sketches, and well-thought-out paragraphs from a team of journalists who know how to tell the story and have the space and tools to communicate their ideas.

It combines the immediacy of Twitter with authority, depth of content, and storytelling.

For one final point, consider how news organizations ranging from Reuters to Al Jazeera covered the unrest in Egypt in real time. Reuters provided continuous live updating of the crisis, complete with thoughtful reporting, images, and video. Al Jazeera instantly published audio reports via phone calls to break Egypt’s attempts to muzzle their reporters. These stories are still available to be read today, unlike Tweets. Instant, authoritative, and persistent: That’s the future of journalism.

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