Digest: How can social media benefit journalists' work?
As a social media editor, part of my job is to share useful social media tools and skills with colleagues in the editorial department, hoping they can benefit from using these new approaches. So frankly speaking, I was a bit disappointed to learn that until now less than 40 per cent of UK journalists say that social media can inprove their productivity.
The key point the survey shows, from my point of view, is the positive impact that social media can bring to a journalist. It really depends on his/her role in the newsroom, and the time he/she spends on the new platforms.
Generally, the more newspaper reporters engage with their readers online, the more useful information they will get. It is quite similar to the old rule that journalists have been following for decades: keep in touch with your sources, because you will get ideas for stories from them.
The question “how can journalists benefit from using social media” should be changed to “what are the journalist’s position and what are his/her tasks?”. Until these two basic questions are answered, it will be difficult for journalists to find the right social media platforms to improve their work.
-- "Only 39% of journalists believe social media impacts their work positively ... - The Drum
-- Jeff Jarvis: Here’s a blueprint for radical innovation in journalism education
-- Four reasons why an open-source newsroom is harder than it looks: Lessons from Al Jazeera
