Traditional media tools is when we deliver a message for example, e-newsletter, even though it's Internet based, is a traditional communications tool because it's about delivering a message while social media If we were to take more or less the same content and throw it up on a blog, then we'd be in the realm of social media, assuming we had an active and vibrant community around our blog.
Not necessary that social media has increased the quality of news but perhabs it increased the ways we find the news ,whenever you open your internet browser, the News is there waiting for you, or you open your facebook, a friend of yours sent you a link for a video to watch or an article to read. No doubt that there are many ways to introduce the News using blogs, twitter, facebook, videos( you tube), articles etc... but the problem is that the content is not really different from a local news paper. The only difference is when you blog there is an opportunity for a response from a friend or comments. The new real thing that social media differnciate from the traditional media is the people sharing their own stories and experiences,whether its about weather,relationships,events, children, school ,jobs,or whatever story is out there you can reach and it is accountable because it is coming from people who experienced some kind of events. There also might be some exaggerating in the news,I will give you an example;Today ,my friend called me to tell me to watch on you tube videos about a planet that will be hitting the earth on December,2011 and basically destroy three quarters of the earth or more. I responded that I will watch it later I have test tomorrow to prepare for. I am not sure whether to believe that or not I have to do my research and watch more credible sources than youtube.
So basically I think the news is still the same news its just the way we introduce it is different.
This is a link to a video called spam and it talks about What happens when you treat social media like communications media?
http://www.slideshare.net/jenomeara/spam-i-am-a-viral-marketing-story-suitable-for-bedtime
