Last week, the Washington Post released new social media guidelines to its staff, which bans its reporters and editors from using certain functions of sites like Facebook and Twitter, and raises a whole slew of questions.
A few sections of the note were posted in the Post’s Ombudsman blog.
“When using these networks, nothing we do must call into question the impartiality of our news judgment,” the statement read. “We never abandon the guidelines that govern the separation of news from opinion, the importance of fact and objectivity, the appropriate use of language and tone and other hallmarks of our brand of journalism.”
We certainly agree that journalistic integrity should be the No. 1 goal of any news organization, and if anything — social networks included — is interfering with that, there’s a problem.
But, in most cases, it seems journalistic integrity really isn’t in question. The note also says Post journalists should not write, tweet or post things that could reveal biases “that could be used to tarnish our journalistic credibility.”
At the heart of the guidelines is the want for Post journalists to appear as unbiased as possible, but perhaps that way of thinking is off.
As simple as it sounds, people have biases and journalists are people, so the public really can’t — and doesn’t — expect complete neutrality of opinion from every reporter on every subject. Allowing that bias to cloud the way the story is covered is where some journalists run into issues.
Biases are based on everything from upbringing to education to experiences, and no amount of journalistic integrity can take those biases away. While it is important as a journalist to approach reporting and writing from neutral ground, it’s silly to think that means biases can just be wiped away.
People don’t trust mainstream media — it’s been that way for years now — and hiding biases only serves to further alienate journalists. We would even argue that both readers and journalists would be better served if there was more transparency between the two groups.
Journalists and news consumers alike know that no one is without bias, and having some of those biases out there for consumers to see could lead to a understanding of journalists and the content they produce.
Now more than ever, news is a conversation. It’s not just about reading a story and going on your way. Look no further than message boards and comment sections on news Web sites. And while some are filled with petty, vulgar arguments about hot-button issues, there are valuable conversations happening on the state of our communities, and why shouldn’t journalists be involved?
Allowing journalists to voice their opinions and talk about what matters to them can bring a whole new perspective to the issues, and that perspective is meaningful. After all, who knows more about a local high school than the reporter who writes about it every day?
Journalists are people too, and they add important voices to the conversation that is the news. Maybe they shouldn’t be faceless bylines anymore, and if Twitter is the way to facilitate the jump into a new era of news media, then tweet away.
