I just watched the 1940 biopic A Dispatch From Reuters and found myself relating to Paul Julius Reuters passion and excitement at being the first to report stock news from Paris. As the telegraph system was evolving his courier pigeon service was faster than the train carrying the post. When a telegraph link was established from Ireland to Britain and then to Europe the news from America was still being tossed into the sea in canisters, picked up in Ireland and telegraphed to England. Reuter was the first to report the assassination of Lincoln to Europe and the now Reuters News Agency's reputation was built on being first to report the latest news.
Impressively, Reuter insisted on setting principles to preserve his company's independence, integrity, and freedom from bias in its news reporting. Reuters today still struggles to maintain those principles. As of 9/11 it has elected to only use the word terrorist if in a quote. This is while it's journalists have been kidnapped and killed.
Now we have Twitter and with the speed and focus on the destination of our messages Twitterers have become "reporters". Most of us report from the comfort of our homes, but as the Iran election riots prove, getting the news out in real time from a cell phone can mean a form of freedom to an oppressed people.
What would Paul Julius Reuter think about the Twitter guys Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams? I think he is behind them cheering and helping them break through these international walls to help us get eventually to where we don't need a computer, or a phone but will all be able to communicate telepathically without the hardware. I believe it is here now and more and more human beings are discovering and nurturing this talent as we move ever closer to 2012 and the awakening of our species.
