Social boundaries
Social media tools (especially Facebook and Twitter) have found a niche in the practice of journalism.
But is this an example of technology moving faster than careful thought?
There are pitfalls in sending out a knee-jerk tweet or stepping into someone else’s Facebook network to cultivate sources on deadline.
Here are new guidelines issued by the Radio Television Digital News Association.
I’ve been asked a few times whether SPJ has updated its code of ethics to keep up with social media.
I’m not sure we need to. The ethical principles in the code, for the most part, don’t pertain only to one form of communication. Fairness, accuracy, context and other fundamentals certainly can apply to BlackBerry or cell-phone texters, too.
But my position isn’t immutable, and the rest of SPJ’s Ethics Committee has a wide range of views, which might lead to some degree of change. The committee will talk about this soon as part of a broad review of the code of ethics, which hasn’t changed in 14 years.
(I’m not sure about this reference in The Washington Times, which seems to suggest SPJ recently updated the code to address social media.)
Does the SPJ Code of Ethics need new language to guide journalists on the ethical use of social media as part of their work? Please tell us what you think.
-Andy Schotz, chairman, SPJ Ethics Committee
Tags: Facebook, RTDNA, Social media, SPJ Code of Ethics, The Washington Times, Twitter
February 4th, 2010 at 11:40 am
I think so, RTDNA released theirs this week, and I thought that was a great idea. I think journalists, seasoned and novice, need guidance with regard to proper, ethical new-media usage. Doing so will help SPJ remain relevant to working journalists in all outlets.
February 4th, 2010 at 4:22 pm
While the codes of conduct undoubtedly cross-apply to social media, a bigger ethical gray area might be the question of “who” a journalist is being when they are tweeting, on facebook, or using other social media. Facebook requires users to have their real name, and twitter users often do the same. In that case, what role is being played by the person? Are the a “journalist” or just a regular citizen? I worry that appearances of bias, or actual bias could be introduced into the media landscape through the unintentional conflation of roles that social media has the potential to bring about.
February 5th, 2010 at 10:59 am
Yes, since social media is a channel for information just like any other media and is used to report.
February 5th, 2010 at 6:31 pm
Check out the social media guidelines released by National Public Radio this fall: http://www.npr.org/about/ethics/social_media_guidelines.html. I think it does a good job of incorporating new platforms, while still giving guidance to journalists.
Here’s a good point from NPR’s guidelines that I really like:
“You should conduct yourself in social media forums with an eye to how your behavior or comments might appear if we were called upon to defend them as a news organization. In other words, don’t behave any differently online than you would in any other public setting.”
Social media, no matter what that looks like in the future, will still impact how journalists do their work. I think having guidelines is another way to shape this sphere and keep journalists accountable.
February 7th, 2010 at 1:29 am
Thanks to everyone for the feedback.
Alex makes a good point. However, the journalist vs. citizen question isn’t new. Think about conflicts of interest (a topic addressed in the code of ethics). When a journalist also has some other connection to a story he or she covers, which is “the” role or, perhaps, the dominant role?
Some guidelines – and the use of social media could be one – are spelled out more specifically by newsrooms for their employees.
I’ve heard a simple solution to this: Create two accounts in your social media worlds – one professional, one personal. Develop your follower/friend lists and communicate with them accordingly.