Oregonian’s new Twitter guidelines tell reporters that retweets are endorsements

AJR | The Buttry Diary
The “retweets do not equal endorsements” line has become boilerplate in many journalists’ Twitter bios, but Caitlin Johnston reports that The Oregonian is taking the opposite stand: “The new rules will urge reporters to assume any retweet is seen as an endorsement, not just passing something along, Editor Peter Bhatia says. … ‘I don’t see this as any different than the limits most journalistic organizations ask of its journalists in the way they engage in partisan politics or political speech.'” People at msnbc.com and the San Francisco Chronicle tell Johnston why they’ve opted against prescriptive guidelines on tweeting. || Doing it wrong? “I don’t think Peter has enough experience with Twitter to make good decisions about how his staff should use it,” writes Steve Buttry. “I think if he engaged more, he would understand Twitter and retweeting better and see the folly in trying to inhibit his staff’s use of Twitter.” Bhatia responds that he’s trying to be cautious about how retweets are perceived. “Our credibility is our most important possession.” || Earlier: Why the “not an endorsement” line doesn’t work (Poynter.org) | AP issues staff guidelines on retweets, no ‘personal opinions’ allowed or implied (Poynter.org)