Social Media Guidelines for Journalists

Should a journalist "friend" sources on Facebook? Is it appropriate for a journalist to mix personal and professional information? Do traditional standards and guidelines apply to blogging and online discourse? Should Facebook and other social media sites be treated as purely social or do they serve a legitimate professional function?

Newspapers and broadcast news media are beginning to confront these issues by coming up with guidelines to preserve traditional standards and protect journalistic credibility. The Washington Post laid down the law on tweeting and online socializing. Ombudsman Andrew Alexander wrote in September about the Post's new rules:

“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.”

Another section reads: “What you do on social networks should be presumed to be publicly available to anyone, even if you have created a private account. It is possible to use privacy controls online to limit access to sensitive information. But such controls are only a deterrent, not an absolute insulator. Reality is simple: If you don’t want something to be found online, don’t put it there.”

It continues: “Post journalists must refrain from writing, tweeting or posting anything – including photographs or video – that could be perceived as reflecting political racial, sexist, religious or other bias or favoritism that could be used to tarnish our journalistic credibility.”

The Radio Television Digital Association (RTDNA) completed an exhaustive study with the Poynter Institute and last week released its guidelines for journalists.

Here's the link:

http://www.rtdna.org/pages/posts/rtdna-releases-social-media-blogging-guidelines-for-journalists831.php

Here's some food for thought (or bytes to chew on): If you're going to "friend" a source accept the reality that everything you say or is written on your site could be read by law enforcement and government officials trying to smoke out your sources or adversaries of your "friend".

The traditional ways for cultivating a source -- drinks, doughnuts, coffee, dinner, etc. is one-on-one. There is no online trail, less opportunity for big brother snooping.

When it comes to Facebook, I'm more of a lurker than a poster.

Social media etiquette for journalists -- let the debate begin.