"Social Media Tools" by jrhode is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Key Takeaways:
Social media has impacted how the news industry operates by making it more interactive
Social media has created more personal relationships between reporters and their communities, but can also leave reporters vulnerable
Social media has made reporting more individualistic than company based
Journalism and the way we as a society share news has evolved rapidly over the past 15 to 20 years. With this whiplash of a change in modality there also comes changes in the audience and how journalists interact with them. Social media in particular has had the largest impact on this. It has also changed how news is gathered, shared, and its overall accessibility.
I find myself being a journalist who wants high community engagement: responding to comments, community forums and just running into people and answering their questions. I enjoy being an active part of the communities I report in and the ability to do this has not always been the case.
Before the internet, there were “Letters to the Editor” or phone calls, but this was not something common for broadcast journalists. Social media has changed that. People can leave comments on articles or media posts, there is direct messaging, and now there are community discussion boards for the explicit purpose of news gathering and feedback.
Audiences are also no longer passive. I think engagement is great and people using social media to share news as it happens is amazing because they do not have to wait to gather their equipment into a news van; they are already there with a camera and at the ready. They are actively taking part in news and sharing it in similar, if not the same, way journalists now do.
However, making sense of everything while live Tweeting, sharing photos to Facebook, and live streaming reporting means that journalists have to be quick thinkers, correct and objective thinkers at that. This is incredibly difficult and while the news is held to a high standard, I think it can be difficult for reporters to live up to those standards. They cannot carry a newsroom everywhere they go since most journalist today are one-person teams.
In my personal experience, social media has been a great way to find out what is happening. City and business newsletters, while a little dated in the eyes of my generation, have also been incredibly useful and have helped me connect with locals. It has been a good way to build my source list and rapport with the community.
Disseminating my reporting has been different since most of it is done through a student outlet or internships. I was and am able to use their websites which already have a following and community around them. Sharing local news on my own is different in that I have to promote my work and personally build relationships with the community. I cannot rely on the trust in my outlet to do that for me. It makes reporting very personal because it is me, not an organization.
While I do work to be engaged and connected to my community, it can be nerve wracking because of its personal elements. The aforementioned “me, not an organization” situation can make journalists vulnerable. While I think it is good to be personable, honest and connected, being a one-person team leaves reporters open to errors and criticism. All the pressure to get it right is on one person, not a team that has the ability to double check everything before disseminating it. While news and reporters being more human and approachable is great, it can also leave the industry more vulnerable.