Poke

Jenny Chufar

jc191106@ohio.edu

Social Media in Journalism

With the rapid growth of social media, it’s important that news outlets keep put to pace with their audiences and take part in the social media world.

“And while sites like NYTimes.com and CNN.com experienced a decline in the number of unique visitors last year, Twitter’s total increased by almost 300 percent. The future of journalism is uncertain, but clearly social networking is booming” (Harnessing Social Media by Stephanie Gleason).

Today, new positions are being created for social media experts and there is a growth in the field of social media journalism. Just two years ago the New York Times appointed their first social media editor. Through social media, media outlets now have more stories to choose from that are emerging through social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Another advantage is that social media allows for a journalist to see a different perspective in certain situations where the reporter may not be present. Social media also opens up communication between journalists and their audiences, which creates a more personal connection between the media and consumers. For these three reasons (and many more), news outlets are joining in on the social media trend as they see the benefits of social media provides.

Because of the growth in social media, it’s important that journalists are trained and know how to use social media properly and ethically. It is a new wave that is emerging in journalism and knowing how to use social media is essential. “McCullough says that training is an ongoing project to make sure AP staff all over the world incorporate social networking into their journalism” (Harnessing Social Media by Stephanie Gleason).

Although social media is important and is a great tool to use, it should not be the only source a news outlet goes to for information and it shouldn’t be a job bestowed to only one or two people in a newsroom, as the job should extend to everyone in the newsroom.

Social media offers many benefits to news outlets, and because of that, the use of social media in journalism is growing fast. It is important to have social media be apart of news outlets and it’s important to utilize social media properly.

Where do we draw the line in ethics of social media?