Tips on how to combine social media with reporting while respecting privacy

Last week, the Poynter Institute published an article called “How to decide what can be published, what’s private on Twitter and Facebook,” which gave advice to journalists on trying to decipher this dilemma, “as more journalists rely on social media to find ideas and sources,” the author of the article Nisha Chittal said.

The main issue discussed was trying to figure out which social media posts should be used in reporting and which should not. “Anything said on Twitter is generally fair game to be reported upon,” Chittal said. But, when it comes to Facebook, “some journalists make the case that public posts are fair game – but others disagree,” she said.

It is no secret that Twitter has become one of the most powerful tools for journalists. It helps journalists find stories, find more varied sources, and engage with a much broader audience. As CNET News pointed out, Twitter is also the place where major news stories first break out.

Twitter is mostly public and tweets can and have been used for reporting, as it is done with other news sharing platforms such as Storify. Facebook however has different privacy settings and users choose whether to share their posts with everyone or just with friends, making it more difficult for journalists to decide whether or not to use other people’s posts for reporting or not.

Journalists must also be careful about what they can and cannot say themselves, as more journalists have been getting reprimanded or fired by their employers over personal posts lately, according to the International Journalists’ Network (IJNet).

As social media rules for journalists are still considered rather new, the Poynter article suggests journalists ask themselves these questions when trying to decide what to publish and what not to publish:

·      What was the author’s intent? If shared in a closed group or personal profile, was it intended to be kept private?

·      How did the source respond when you asked about including the information in a story?

·      Is the author a public figure? How public? There is a difference between a school principal and a professional athlete.

·      What harm could come to the individual if the information is made public? Is that harm justified by the public benefit of the information?

·      What alternatives do you have for getting similar information?

If trying to decide what you as a journalist should post on social media platforms, the most logical solution, and one that will also allow you to connect with a wider audience, is to have public accounts to be used for journalism purposes and keep your personal accounts private if you choose to. Alternatively, due to the growing number of social media platforms, journalists could also choose to use one as private and one as public, i.e. – a private Facebook profile and a public Google+ profile. What journalists should keep in mind in the end is that the trend of combining social media with reporting seems to keep growing, and journalists should embrace that and not shy away from it.