Social Media and Journalism

Nadine Ajaka

na177607@ohio.edu

This is a very interesting and relevant topic. What stood out to me especially was when the author mentioned conventional journalistic rules—don’t march in a protest, don’t contribute to a campaign, etc.—“but what are the online equivalents as journalists participate in discussions in the virtual public square?”

Indeed, the age-old journalistic call to maintain objectivity faces some resistance due to the emergence of social media. Here is an interesting look at how traditional objectivity may be changing due to social media. The delicate issue of how far is too far is also addressed here.

It is definitely difficult to determine what is or is not appropriate, especially as the growing majority of journalists begin to use social media. One quotation in the article that really stood out to me was when Cabanatuan said, “Social media is about building community and not isolating groups from one another.”

I think probably one of the best ways to manage how much to share of yourself on a social networking site is to create two accounts—one for your friends, and your personal life, and the other to address the world as a journalist would. While this is a lot of extra work and precaution, journalists have a responsibility to paint themselves as objective, so that the news they put forth can be taken as credible and unbiased. I think this warrants a little extra thought in what we tweet and post on Facebook. Mashable takes an interesting look about the future of social media in journalism, and what it will look like.

The RTDNA social media and blogging guidelines are actually fairly helpful in addressing this. For example, one guideline states: “Twitter’s character limits and immediacy are not excuses for inaccuracy and unfairness.” This is a very relevant and important rule, and I think it is good to address. They also warn journalists about the effects of revealing personal views on social media sites, and how it can lead to negative legal action—“Editorializing about a topic or person can reveal your personal feelings,” they say, and can be brought up in a court of law later.

Nevertheless, social media is here to stay, and has done a great deal of good for the journalism world. Here, Katie Couric talks about the role of social media in journalism. It is a long video, but she shares some of her insights as one of the leading women in broadcast news: