Comments on: What Is ‘Journalistic Integrity’ In a Social Media World?

By: “Journalists are in the truth business” « madisonburke1108

“Journalists are in the truth business” « madisonburke1108 — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 03:51:45 +0000

[...] when they would not slant their stories like she wished. I admire the employees that quit for their journalistic integrity. They would rather face unemployment than fail to give the public the [...]

By: Debi Ward Kennedy

Debi Ward Kennedy — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 01:02:58 +0000

Excellently stated, Beth. As I read through the comments following your article, this thought formed in my mind: Readers of any media source DO have to use their own capacity for thinking, reasoning, and comprehending the subject matter.
It’s the same concept as ‘People who attend church need to use their own capacity to read scriptures on their own and not JUST accept whatever is fed to them from the pulpit’. It’s as much about personal integrity on the part of the reader as it is on the part of the journalist or media source.

By: Cindy Kim

Cindy Kim — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:50:02 +0000

Great post Beth. I recently wrote on the topic of how social media is reshaping journalism with Del Jones of USA TODAY http://cindykimblog.wordpress.com. The impact of social media is having a big impact in the way we disseminate information. Just as the journalists have a duty to fact check and report the truth with proof of evidence, we too as social media users must do the same. We have a responsibility to never rush to judgement but fact check and do our due diligence before disseminating information to ensure credibility within our own community. This is a great reminder to us all on the power of social media but how we use that power is what will ultimately help us a trusted community around our own network. Fluff goes only so far. This speaks to every aspect of what we do - in marketing, PR and communications as well as social media. I work with a global PR team on rapid response to quickly provide insight into breaking news in the security industry. Having a journalism background has helped me a great deal in ensuring information that we provide is factual and credible. http://twitter.com/cindykimpr http://cindykimblog.wordpress.com http://www.linkedin.com/myprofile?trk=hb_side_pro http://bit.ly/womenofweb

By: David Reich

David Reich — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:34:43 +0000

Beth, I just wrote a lengthy reply, but when I tried t6o post it, I got an error message saying “too many comments have posted by me in a short time,” which is not true.
I didn’t save my comment, and I don’t have time to recreate it now. Too bad –it was good.
Maybe I’ll post about it on my blog when I have a chance.
Oh well, I tried.
Have a great weekend.

By: Leigh Durst

Leigh Durst — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 19:59:26 +0000

Beth,
I think you’re raising such important points here. I’m with Annie on disclosure and mMedia LIteracy training as a part of formal education.
I remember when the Mumbai attacks happened and someone tweeted that the Indian govt. requested people stop tweeting about any actions of an operational nature. The original tweet about this was initiated from Boston by a 15-year old. Makes one think.
I like what Cam says about exposing your bias – which gets to my agreement with Ann about disclosure. We all have it at some level.

By: Cam Beck

Cam Beck — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:37:22 +0000

Hey, Beth -
Your article reminded me of a speech Matt Drudge gave to the National Press Club in 1998 – back when he had achieved a level of influence and notoriety that made the audience a bit uncomfortable about the things to come.
http://www.libertyroundtable.org/library/essay.drudge.html
If you read the questions they ask of him, you may read into it a sense of marvel, fear, indignation, and condescension, which morphed, I think in a lot of ways, to a bit of sloppy and undisciplined emulation based on the wrong lessons, once the tools of sharing became more mainstream.
I agree with Bill Free that the heart of the issue is integrity … but also worldview.
There is no such thing as being “unbiased.” The very adoption of canons suggests a moral order of behavior, but including “impartiality” within them is self-contradictory — sort of requesting someone draw a round triangle.
I think it was the wrong approach.
The canons, adopted uncritically, actually encourage dishonesty, for it forces others who are pressured by their peers to adopt and sustain them to deny the bias they inevitably would have.
I would prefer journalists and bloggers simply expose their bias. Then let the marketplace decide what happens after that.

By: Dan Levine

Dan Levine — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:34:05 +0000

Hi Beth, did you see this post from Mark Schaefer's blog? "The Worlds First Authenticity Policy?" http://bit.ly/anoyC Worth checking out ...

By: Dan Levine

Dan Levine — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:12:30 +0000

Beth, thanks for the thoughtful post – as always. My concern is that when (most) people see something “in print” whether that’s on- or off-line, they take it as truth. Whether it’s an ad, a blog, or an opinion in a newspaper — if it’s in print, many instinctually believe it must have been vetted and “cleared” and that it must, then, be true. I’m not sure how to fix the problem — signing a BWI for bloggers is a great start but in the end I think it’s going to remain incumbent upon the reader (of the ad, blog, opinion, etc.) to *think* and recognize that what they’re reading is not necessarily truth — it’s only one person’s idea of truth.

By: gianandrea facchini

gianandrea facchini — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 06:52:57 +0000

Beth, we now live in Italy tough times about freedom of speech for journalists. Just to give you an idea of the problem, a poll from Sky TV says that 55% of the respondents think the freedom of speech is in danger. Not bad for a western country.
People, without a media literacy (Ann, you are right about including Media Literacy courses in schools), is not longer able to make a comparison between truth and lies. So they look for the ones closer to their own ideas and follow them, without any criticism.
Bloggers had a great chance to boost the freedom of speech and to be the watchdog of the truth. Do we lost this chance? I’m afraid that if it is not yet lost, we put it in great danger.

By: Ann Handley

Ann Handley — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 19:18:00 +0000

Hi Beth –
I was trained as a journalist, and worked as one for a decade, and I’m nodding in agreement with Ellen here… in that disclosure really is the key. Bloggers (and journalists) need to up front about their relationships, or motivations, or whatever the case. That’s more obvious an imperative in a newsroom, but no less critical for bloggers, whatever issue they are covering, and in whatever sector.
A whole other issue, which is tougher to discern and even tougher to self-regulate, is media slant, on the part of citizen journalists or professional ones. Fox’s coverage is going to differ wildly from, say, the Boston Globe’s or the Boston Herald’s or Dan Kennedy’s Media Nation blog (to use my local market as an example) (atlhough Fox and the Herald’s will probaby be more closely aligned). The imperative there rests on the subscriber, or reader, or user, or audience (however you want to define it), to have a certain literacy when it comes to media coverage and consumption. Which is why I’m a big advocate of including Media Literacy courses in public schools, at almost every step of a child’s education, tailored (of course) for the age group.

By: Ellen Rossano

Ellen Rossano — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 18:36:08 +0000

Beth~Great post! I know there has been a lot of discussion about the integrity of citizen/journalist and bloggers. What amazes me is the the amount of commentary, opinion and speculation in daily newspaper and TV “news” reporting. Boston is still lucky enough to be a 2-newspaper town, but sometimes the slants are so different, it may leave the reader wondering if they are reading about the same event. The same happens with CNN and FOX – same story, but two entirely different editorial philosophies.
Whether it’s mainstream or on a blog, I think the key is disclosure. I think if blogs are sponsored or paid, or the opinion rests with the blogger alone, there should be some sort of disclaimer stating that.
I like the idea of the “Blogging with Integrity” pledge. I wonder if mainstream media would make it a point to print/broadcast the basic tenets of journalism in each day’s edition?

By: Juliann Grant

Juliann Grant — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:35:53 +0000

Beth,
Great post, loved the reference to the 1922 Canons. I like how getting back to our journalistic roots put things back into focus. The emergence of citizen journalism does bring the question of who to trust and when to trust.
Recently I was passed an AMBER alert by someone I know and trust in my network, and it was a hoax. Now I know that’s not as extreme as your examples, it was still annoying to me. It puts me in a position to either verify every Amber alert that is supposed do good, or ignore them. So guess what I end up doing?
I like the idea of an oath. There needs to be some way to pledge accountability. I think that many relationship lines are blurred in social networking, and often times we may trust information or a source more easily than we would have before. It’s a false sense of trust, because in many cases, we really don’t know a person at levels we would if we grew up or worked with that person.
Trust and the elements that create trust may be describable, but hard to duplicate exactly. Reminds me to go read the text: The New Fundamentals of Human Behavior…lol.

By: Nick Stamoulis

Nick Stamoulis — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:40:00 +0000

I think journalists do what they have to in order for their stories to sound appealing. I think it should be how you present the story.

By: Bill Free

Bill Free — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:38:06 +0000

Integrity in journalism is a critical issue, but I don’t think it’s what differentiates “professional” journalists from the “citizen” variety. For me, it’s a question of credibility supported by the demonstration of skills in sourcing, inquiry and discernment that are fundamental to the craft.
As you point out, there is a continuum ranging from direct observation (Hudson River crash) to credibly sourced reporting (Michael Jackson’s death and H1N1) to investigative journalism.
This is an important issue, and not just for PR practitioners. Thanks for raising it here.

By: Susan Getgood

Susan Getgood — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:33:36 +0000

Thanks for the shout-out for Blog with Integrity.

By: Phil Buckley

Phil Buckley — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:16:01 +0000

Good post Beth, I work on the interactive side of a big newspaper company, and they struggle with the whole idea of citizen journalism.
They don’t want “blogger opinions” next to their “serious news”.
It’s that type of mindset that is strangling them, they’re doomed by their own myopic view “journalism”