real-time ethics: balancing journalism and social media in the digital age
DESCRIPTION
With the news cycle ever accelerating, how can PR practitioners track public sentiment on social media and, if need be, correct erroneous information? Join us for a discussion about real-time ethics and accuracy in social media, with examples ranging from breaking Supreme Court decisions to celebrities' Twitter tussles with airlines.TRANSCRIPT
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
