"Regular news consumers want someone to tell them when a news event occurs but they don't necessarily care who tell them neither do they notice who told them first." At least according to Felix Salmon.

Journalist however really care about who broke the news about a specific event yet what really matters to the reader is whom they trust to give them context and understanding. It is not easy for journalists or news organizations to give up the obsession with being first even for newspapers, which have by now gotten used to TV and radio being the first to report many things.

That is the language of news business all the same and journalist want to tell the audience something new and if you aren't telling people new, you are not doing your job. "We are writing news! Not history!" Felix's editor would shout.

The half-life of a scoop or breaking news alert is already short and is dwindling rapidly since breaking news is now everyones business within minutes of almost anything newsworthy happening anywhere around the globe tweets and status updates.

What matters today is whether a news outlet is adding value and if they have built up a reputation for credibility. The trust created by doing so is the only valuable asset that media companies have any more now that they no longer control the platform through which their news reaches the end consumer.