Twitter in journalism: Journalists' personal voice and the use of Twitter as a news-sharing platform

The profession of journalism is changing as microblogs and blogs emerge as crucial sources of news. Twitter has recently become an important addition to the ecology in which journalism is practiced. However, Twitter does not merely replicate the practice of traditional journalism; rather, it opens up new avenues and creates new challenges. Twitter allows for direct interaction with the public, inserting of opinions alongside news and observations, "retweeting," and linking to audiovisual materials. This study examines the Twitter feeds of reporters Ayman Mohyeldin, Jack Shenker, and Ben Wedeman during the Egyptian Revolution (January-February 2011) and compares them to the transcripts and articles that the reporter formally produced. The results show that a journalist is more likely to use a personal voice in a Twitter feed in comparison to the "professional" product and that journalists on Twitter interact directly with the public to a significant degree