I was thinking today about the role that Twitter (and to a larger degree social media in general) plays in the sports journalism industry.
Many outlets have given their reporters full autonomy in this area and even implore them to be active on Twitter.
There are a more than a few sides to this issue.
On one hand, there is much that a journalist can relay through Twitter that they may not have a chance to work into a story.
On the other hand, sometimes they can get carried away and post opinion that colors their objectivity as a reporter.
Clearly, columnists will be a bit more free with the postings they choose to talk about, and that’s a fair thing for a commentator.
But I would stress that if Twitter is used by beat reporters, they should take great care not to overstep the boundaries of their profession.
People are reading your tweets (sometimes even more than your articles) and they can still make judgments about your credibility from them just as easily.
Don’t be fooled into thinking your tweets are not an extension of your profession.
No comments:
Post a Comment