Gordon Lightfoot is still alive

I've been somewhat remiss about tracking my media work of late*, but I came across this particularly fun link from a couple of months back (Feb. 18, actually) that I wanted to share.

It's from an interview I did with CTV News Channel's Marcia MacMillan This time out, we spoke about the Twitter-started rumor that erroneously spread "news" that Canadian singing legend Gordon Lightfoot - his most famous tune is arguably The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - had died.

Imagine Mr. Lightfoot's surprise upon hearing this on the radio as he drove home from a dentist's appointment. He was very much still with us, and called a national radio program to share this happy news with the country.

The incident raised all sorts of questions about the impact of social media on the news gathering and dissemination process, and the fact that without checks and balances, it's only a matter of time before this kind of thing happens again. And again. And...

The interview's here. Other televised hits can be found here, here and here.

Your turn: The dangers of Twitter, Facebook and other tools of social media. Please discuss.

* If you've just joined us, I lead a bit of a double life beyond my 9-to-5 career path as a data management guy. Long ago, I became a journalist by education, then an analyst almost by accident. Like Superman, who often uses fast-disappearing phone booths to switch into his alter-ego, I occasionally find myself switching gears into media-commentator-analyst mode as the sun sets (or rises...those early morning hits are fun.) Journalists, producers and editors from various print and electronic media often call me to talk about why a particular tech/business/culture story matters. It's resulted in some fun adventures along the way.