Nieman Reports
The Denver Post’s Lindsay Jones calls herself a “Twitter-holic” but says her reporting standards are the same no matter the platform:
“My approach is this: I am a journalist first, reporting for a newspaper. My standards for sending something out on Twitter or Facebook remain the same as if I was going to publish the news in the print edition. As much as possible, I adhere to the same reporting rules with social media when it comes to breaking news. Do I have a reliable source? Is this information on the record? Am I absolutely sure the information is accurate?”
With more than 12,000 fans following her Denver Broncos updates on Twitter, Jones says her audience has become an “invaluable resource” in her reporting, directing her to topics or questions they want to read about.
She also relates a few stories from her beat, including a player injury and a suicide, that point to the potential dangers of using direct-to-audience publishing tools.
Jones writes that The Denver Post staff has “constant” discussions about using Twitter and other social media channels for publishing and breaking news.
One key to Jones’ success with Twitter is that her newsroom continues to discuss the best uses of social media. And they continue to apply core journalistic values to their reporting — even when it is delivered as a tweet or a Facebook post.
