Journalism and Social Media: One in The Same?

Emma Skidmore

es320518@gmail.com

 

The relationship between social media and journalism has become more complicated as we move into an increasingly digital age. On one hand, social media acts as a great way to promote journalistic content and share your own work. Most people today would probably say they get the majority of their news from social media and it's platforms like Twitter are playing a larger role in traditional journalism.

However, this often comes in conflict with the traditional value of objectivity. Many would argue that as a journalist, you give up the ability to voice your own opinions in order to keep your work fair and balanced. For example, tweeting your thoughts about a particular political candidate could influence what readers think about the next thing they read from you. Nevertheless, all of us still have opinions. 

Some worry that openly voicing your opinions will affect your reputation and negatively impact your relationship with your readers. Dan Kennedy writes for WGBH News that social media is just another facet of the job, so the same rules should apply. 

While national papers have attempted to control this within their staffs by setting strict social media guidelines, not everyone is in agreement. Matthew Ingram writes in the Columbia Journalism Review, in order for papers to survive, journalists have to be able to express their opinions to gain the trust of readers. The reality is, many reporters have come under fire or lost their jobs over tweets.

One of many examples occurred in 2014, when a CNN correspondent was reassigned and faced criticism for a tweet that seemed to refer to a group of Israelis as "scum." The outlet later clarified that it was a misunderstanding and apologized. This is only one of many examples, and even old tweets have come back and proved they can haunt journalists' careers.

Picture credit: https://www.cjr.org/tow_center/journalists-deleting-old-tweet.php

The Poynter Institute recently published an article that addressed some journalists' choice to step away from social media platforms entirely, as they felt it would prevent a rash or premature tweet. Social media is only a portion of the larger conversation surrounding objectivity in the newsroom. This is a topic that will continue to be discussed, especially with how rapidly the social media landscape is changing. While there are ethics codes in place that aim to value things like truth, independence, accountability and more, it won't always present a clear-cut answer.