What are the main ethical challenges journalism is facing when embracing Social Media?

Comments posted in our Facebook discussion group.

I agree with Sergi that although social media can provide leads, but info needs to be checked. Another point I’ve noticed is that people’s tweets from months or years ago are sometimes used to try and weaken the perception of their character in articles. Tweets are easier to use out of context to try and make someone seem better or worse than you want. It’s something we all need to be careful of when posting.

Amy Hall

I agree with Becs… it’s a good way to find or follow a good story, but a journalist must alway check the information. I think that social media are the present and the future… My opinion is that journalists who works with social media are the working towards taking over old generations.

Sergi Caufapé

 

It works like an informer does for police I think. Info on the web can be used as leads and tips, not the story itself. I could tweet about something right now. You wouldn’t take it on face value, would you? You’d look in to it and make it your own story.

Abhijan Barua

 

Comments made in facebook or twitter by others can lead to a story for a journalist. However, he or she cannot just copy and paste the information into an article online or broadcast it as it is only an opinion, not factual. Always a journalist must still check its sources before publishing the story.

Becs Novell

 

Every individual using social media is a potential participant in this age of information and communication. The network services contributed a lot in exposure of journalists to the public not as employ working for a particular media but as private citizens with their own opinion. However, as media in general has ethics and journalists have to follow them. These ethics are not to be affected by technological changes.

Iqbal Hussain