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September 27, 2009

WashPost Social Media guidelines are far from clear

The WaPo Social Media guidelines are out now.  Most of it makes perfect sense.  Journalists are journalists everywhere. And Social Media is not private.

Full text of guidelines from PaidContent.org

But I'd like to see a definition of the term "involved in any social networks."  As in "Post journalists should not be involved in any social networks related to advocacy or a special interest regarding topics they cover, unless specifically permitted by a supervising editor for reporting and so long as other standards of transparency are maintained while doing any such reporting."
Does this mean they cannot "friend" a group to keep in touch with it?  Or to get press releases?

I can see how some staffers would just back away from the keyboard.  No word in the guidelines on how all this will be monitored.

 

Here are my thoughts about objectivity and Social Media having nothing to do with each other.

Filed under  //   objectivity   Social Media guidelines   The Washington Post  

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September 26, 2009

Post's Omblog turned into OMGblog

Omblog turned into OMGblog

The Washington Post editor in charge of features and the online site has stopped tweeting after he realized that more than his 90 followers were likely to see what he wrote. 

Raju Narisetti closed his Twitter account saying.. his tweets had been “personal” observations, “but I also realize that... seeing that the managing editor of The Post is weighing in on this, it’s a clear perception problem.”

Narisetti is backing away from Social Media because, as Post ombudsman Andrew Alexander says, "In today’s hyper-sensitive political environment, Narisetti’s tweets could be seen as one of The Post’s top editors taking sides."

His resignation from Twitter also coincides with the release of new Social Media guidelines at The Washington Post, which include:

“When using these networks, nothing we do must call into question the impartiality of our news judgment. We never abandon the guidelines that govern the separation of news from opinion, the importance of fact and objectivity, the appropriate use of language and tone, and other hallmarks of our brand of journalism.”

That is very true.  And perhaps a top editor needs to be extra vigilant (but perhaps not).

=>=> Yet opting out altogether is not any way for journalists to remain or prove their objectivity.  And plenty of journalists find ways to behave professionally online and at the same time use Social Media tools to enhance their reporting and editing.  I'm sure Narisetti could do that too. This is after all, the man whose LinkedIn profile is called "theromanticrealist".  

Whether a journalist is in a room of 5 people or on a Twitter account with 90 followers or writing for a Sunday A1 story on paper with a half a million circulation, we should NEVER do or say anything that makes it impossible to do our jobs. 

Objectivity is still a journalist's killer app. Social Media has nothing to do with that.

Filed under  //   Andrew Alexander   objectivity   Social Media guidelines   The Washington Post  

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