Journalists should establish a professional account separate from their personal account. I think their professional account should be set to public, whereas the personal account should be private. I understand why employers would want to “own” their employees professional accounts. For example, I notice all ABC 7 employees use “ABC7” followed by their name in their social media handles. There is risk involved when a journalist is the face of a media company, and there should be consequences if anything inappropriate should come up. This is an issue journalists may face when combining their personal and professional account.
Yesterday I saw a Chinese-Australian artist repost a photo from Sky News Host, Caroline Marcus. She and her husband dressed up as Wuhan street vendors, their baby dressed up as a bat, with a Japanese Yen symbol on display. Her caption says, “Because what could seriously be more terrifying in 2020 than a couple of Wuhan street vendors hawking one very edible bat?”. This created a stir, headlines read “Sky News Host Is Caught in Racist Row”, “TV Star sparks outrage after dressing up as…”, and “Fury as TV Presenter and family dress up as Wuhan bat vendors”.
These are exactly the kind of issues news media outlets hope to avoid as guidelines are established in the workplace. I found a NY Times article, The Times Issues Social Media Guidelines for the Newsroom.
Their key points include, “In social media posts, our journalists must not express partisan opinions, promote political views, endorse candidates, make offensive comments or do anything else that undercuts The Times’s journalistic reputation.” Ultimately, newsrooms are concerned for their journalistic reputation. This includes tweeting headlines that The Times has not reported, because if an employee has acknowledged the headline, it could be perceived as The Times confirming the story. Employees should also veer from writing editorial or opinion pieces not approved by The Times.
By establishing separate accounts, for personal and professional use, there should be little to no conflict concerning personal opinions, or showcase of bias on social media.
““Because what could seriously be more terrifying in 2020 than a couple of Wuhan street vendors hawking one very edible bat?” @CarolineMarcus”