Tangled Ethics:Social Media and Sports

Media

Poynter Kent State Media Ethics Workshop

Presented by Steve Fox, University of Massachusetts

September, 2011

State of Journalism

In 2009 Twitter and other social media emerged as powerful tools for disseminating information and mobilizing citizens such as evading the censors in Iran and communicating from the earthquake disaster zone in Haiti.

The majority of Internet users (59%) now use some kind of social media, including Twitter, blogging and networking sites.

-- Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism

Online Roundups Aggregation

Opinion Informed Analysis

Long text Microblogging

Outliers in PJs Mainstream

The game story is obsolete

The score is in the air

The daily scoop is tough to get

Tough to break news in traditional formats

New workflow involves multiple platforms

Connections matter, not platforms

Journalists need to be platform-agnostic

All platforms working together as one

Perceptions: Don’t be a dumbass.

You are ALWAYS representing your news organization

Just because you can hit the publish button….

One of the many misperceptions of tweeters is that they don’t report.

As a journalist, Twitter is a tool.

You’re reading, researching and, in many cases, interviewing for your Tweets.

Don’t take shortcuts. Link out and attribute often.

Practice journalism, not plagiarism.

You’re fighting the image of the ranter. So, don’t.

Use Facebook, Twitter to pass along links to your blog/written work.

Providing a thoughtful, credible series of tweets will help create an audience that will follow you for your expertise and perspective.

Respect your audience.

Watch fort typos and errors and avoid text-ese.

Consider a series tweets on a topic.

One way to get readers to come back while keeping entries short.

Old newspaper construct: Reporters write stories; editors write headlines.

Bloggers write headlines for audience & search engines.

SEO: Specifics in your headlines help search engines access content.

Make your headline work for you: Cover ground that draws the reader in.

Don’t just set up your blog and let it sit.

A successful blog, like a garden, needs tending.

Your audience is not going to just show up. Find time to blog and do it.

Incorporate pictures, video, audio, polls.

Read and comment on other blogs.

Respond to comments from your audience.

Not all the comments you get will be nice.

Warning: Thick skin needed.

Never respond to snark with snark.

Have a discussion, not a shouting match.

A Change of Direction

Journalism is no longer a lecture – more like an ongoing, developing conversation.

Blogs, message boards, online discussions have created a two-way information highway for journalists.

The “group formerly known as the audience” is creating information through wikis and user-generated content.

It’s far easier for people to communicate from places previously unimaginable. (ie: tsunami coverage.)