Media Matters on Twitter-watch

I agree that all of the fawning coverage of Twitter in the past few weeks has been a bit much. But this is definitely something new. Media Matters, the liberal media watch dog group, slammed former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R) on Tuesday for a a factual error in a Tweet.

Summary: In a Twitter post, Newt Gingrich falsely claimed that there have been no oil spills in the waters off Santa Barbara since 1969. In fact, there were at least two oil spills reported in or near the Santa Barbara Channel in just the last few months, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

At the moment, I am less concerned with whether Media Matters is right than with the fact that Media Matters is now monitoring Twitter. Look out Republican congressmen – Rep. Hoekstra, I’m looking at you.

For the record: I fully support members of Congress using Twitter. I realize it probably drives press secretaries nuts (in fact, I know it does), but I don’t see how members of Congress being able to communicate directly with their constituents whenever they want is a bad thing. Like anything other talking points, tweets should be fact checked and everyone should be wary of spin, but the spontaneity of Twitter is refreshing as politics has become increasingly scripted.

Besides, it’s great blog fodder.

Oh and by the way, you can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jeremypjacobs

jeremy.jacobs@digital-stage.thehill.com