To Tweet or Not to Tweet? That is the Question.

Katelyn Liff

kl379907@ohio.edu

In our current world, news and information are right at our fingertips. We no longer have to wait until 5 o’clock to get news of the happenings of the world. Although this is beneficial because people can be instantly updated, it also creates problems for journalists and newsrooms. In an age where anyone can blog, tweet, or comment about any possible subject how does social media fit into the lives of journalists?

In the article The Limits of Control, it discusses how many newsrooms are dealing with the complications that social media brings. Journalists now have to question whether their posts and tweets will conflict with their ethical codes of being journalists. Making opinionated statements could lead them into troubled water. If they make comments concerning a political party, they may be instantly labeled as biased. Many people may then question whether they are able to write a story without this unintentional bias slipping into their story. Journalists now have to consider how everything they write on their blogs and social media sites could be taken by the outside world.

Although social media has opened up an entire world for journalists to discover and utilize when writing stories, guidelines need to be implemented. In the Poynter article, companies are now having to make sure their employees are not “friending” sources unnecessarily and using the information from their sites incorrectly. This could open up another can of worms because again, journalists need to also be careful what they post on their sites, because those sources could see the materials and take them the wrong way.

Even though journalists need to be wary when considering what they post on their sites, transparency is also key. Many newsrooms do not like the idea that journalists have multiple social media outlets, such as having a personal twitter and then a public twitter that they share with their coworkers and bosses. The companies question what their employees are doing and saying on their personal sites that they cannot publish to the world.

Along with the idea of transparency, in the article by the LA Times, major brands are finding that they need to respond quickly to complaints and any issues that arise that could hurt their brand names. They are finding that it is better to promptly respond then let rumors spread through the virtual world. As we have found, truth trumps in all journalistic elements. Therefore, it is important to react truthfully in order to help, instead of harm, the company.