@knackered: I’m not suggesting that wire services shoot first and ask questions later. I’m just saying that getting things onto the wire first is more important than just about anything, and if you have worked at a wire service or know someone who has, you know what I’m talking about.

The fact is that mistakes happen all the time — not the “I made up a story” kind of mistakes, but spelling errors, mis-attributions, etc., and in some cases misunderstandings. It’s a factor of trying to be first. I’m not saying blogs and wire services are identical, I’m just saying there are similarities.

While news editors at other media outlets surely need to be alerted to wire service mistakes as quickly as possible, I think you would find that an angry call from a major investment bank that has lost money as a result of a reporting inaccuracy will focus the mind a lot more quickly than one from another journalist because the mistake is generally more easily reversible for the latter. So there is a premium on accuracy, despite the intense competitive pressure to be first.

There are other arguments to be had about wire services and the way their services are produced and consumed in the markets, but in my experience they are not careless in the quest for speed.

Tim

Matt