real-time ethics: balancing journalism and social media in the digital age

Real-Time Ethics: Balancing Journalism and Social Media in the Digital Age

#prsadallas – 9.13.2012Jake Batsell, Assistant ProfessorSMU Division of Journalism@jbatsell

June 28, 2012

Credit: @garyhe

In 2012,News = Galaga

The 2012 News Landscape

* “Rules of the Road: Navigating the New Ethics of Local Journalism”www.J-Lab.org/ethics

• The threshold for news is lower.*• Stories unravel in real time.*• “Google juice” makes micro news have a macro afterlife.*• Journalists increasingly rely on social media for source material.• Gatekeepers are losing control.

What does this mean for PR?• You need to stay informed and monitor your message ON ALL CHANNELS.• If misinformation circulates, you need to correct it quickly.• If unfavorable – but true – information circulates, you need to act quickly.• People distrust spin more than ever.• When ethical dilemmas arise, transparency and authenticity win the day.

In 2012,‘Never has it

been so easy to expose an error,

check a fact, crowdsource and bring technology to bear in service

of verification.’Craig Silverman, “A New Age for Truth,” Nieman Reports Summer

2012www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports

In 2012, a PR crisiscan erupt instantly

(& outside the filter of

mainstream media)

In 2012,fake spin is sniffed out in a heartbeat – and can damage

a brand.

In 2012,insensitive

tweetsare amplified exponentially.

Credit: Time

“In an era where we have nearly unlimited amounts of

information at our fingertips, one of the key issues is how to separate

the good from the bad, the reliable from the unreliable,

the trustworthy from the untrustworthy, the

useful from the irrelevant.”Dan Gillmor, Mediactive (2010)

www.mediactive.com

Thanks!jbatsell@smu.e

du@jbatsell

Slideshttp://j.mp/batsellprsa