Yesterday was quite the emotional day in Boston, with the verdict of the Tsarnaev trial being read in Federal Court in Boston. Every local news radio and television station had a presence at the courthouse, with live reports of the verdict as it was read.
Except no station, nor any reporter, could broadcast what was happening. Arguably the most important verdict rendered in Boston's legal history was disseminated to the public through only one form of communication - social media.
I, like many Boston-area residents, have been following the trial closely. The verdict was never really in doubt - Tsarnaev's own defense admitted his guilt during opening statements, and the evidence was overwhelming. However, when the news came out that a verdict had been reached in the trial, I still wanted to know.
As federal court doesn't allow broadcasts from federal cases, social media became the medium that Bostonians and others turned to for their information about the case. As I waited for the verdict to be read, I tuned my TV to WBZ, but not for the news - rather, for the analysis of the news. Instead, I opened Twitter on my phone, refreshing every few seconds to find out how each count was rendered and each question answered, and watched as the WBZ news team read the Tweets of the verdict on air.
This is the new form of media - not television broadcasts, not print, not radio. Social media is the now the primary way people receive their news - that's not a surprise to anyone. Still, in such an important and emotional moment in Boston's history since April of 2013, social media was THE only source for the public to get the verdict from the courtroom.
Obviously, the Marathon Bombing is a very important event in Boston's history - as someone who grew up in Belmont, with a view of Boston every day, it impacted me greatly. I took to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, to voice my opinions and stories about that day in 2013, just as I did when I found out about the bombing via Twitter from Portland, Maine. Social media, as it did in 2013, became a community as people around the state and around the world, shared their tributes to the victims, their thoughts about the verdict, and their opinion of the upcoming penalty phase.
The point of this post is this - social media has become the format in which news exists. With the advent of streaming apps like Periscope and Meerkat, the news will move more and more towards a social existence. The Tsarnaev trial is not a pivotal moment in this transition - rather, it's an important illustration of the role social media plays in reporting the news and a continuation of the social media news trend.
Below is a Storiify of my memories and reactions to the Marathon Bombing and verdict.