Treading a Fine Line

Alessa Rosa
ar224811@ohio.edu

Image taken from Google

In this digital age, belonging to a social network has become an integral part of people’s lives. Interestingly enough, social media has crossed the line to the professional world as well. This development has forced journalists into deciding what roles social media can and should play in their job. One way that social media has changed the landscape of journalism is by providing a immensely larger pool of sources for stories and materials. Another way is by confusing the way that journalists and sources should interact.

SOURCING

When big events take place, journalists can search Twitter and Facebook for raw footage or comments to use in order to quickly report on events not occurring nearby. Although useful in getting information out fast, crowdsourcing on social media can provide unreliable sources and possible wrong information. There have been numerous cases where live tweeting has caused the situations to escalate and spread falsehoods. One example took place at the Tucson shootings in 2011, when news spread that Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was dead. She was later confirmed to be alive.

Beating other news outlets to big stories has always been important in journalism, but social media has taken too far. I think that because it is our job to report the truth, it is vital that we take the steps necessary to confirm facts before we share them with the public, even if it takes a little longer. Especially, because even if you retract or correct something you posted, there is a chance that those who saw it will not see the correction and will go on believing what you had previously posted. Moreover, if your wrong information spreads to other outlets, then the information will look to be authentic since other people are also reporting that wrong fact.

Also, when using social media as sources journalists should get permission to share perceived private information. Sure, getting by privacy settings is easy to do. But the ethical thing to do, is to be considerate of people’s right to privacy. Asking or informing a source that you are using something they posted or shared, is the right thing to do.

In the end, journalists need to do the job that they always have done, even with the changing digital era. Do the research necessary to report correct information to the public and verify sources.

SOCIALIZING

So what to do when your sources start to request you as a friend on Facebook or start following you on Twitter? Well some people will make separate personal and professional accounts. Others choose to not friend sources or keep their account private. I feel that having sources as friends or followers on social media is acceptable if you have separate accounts or are willing to censor your account and how you relate with sources. It is important to maintain your profile appropriate because most information is vulnerable to being spread to more people than you wish. Thus, taking precautious steps and making sure you do not post anything you do not want to be associated with, or that could threaten your job or credibility is the smart thing to do. Also know your audience and stay away from controversial or political topics. This way you can engage your followers and share information that pertains to you and your interests without causing troubles and bringing unwanted criticisms.

There is no way to escape social media these days, but there are ways to better use it as a resource and to manage accounts. So far, there are no set guidelines, however, journalists should use common sense and common courtesy when involving social media in their profession.