Comments on: Is Social Media Making Journalists Lazy?

By: 7 Deadly Sins of Freelance Writing

7 Deadly Sins of Freelance Writing — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 23:07:01 +0000

[...] Sloth Some writers lift quotes from other publications instead of doing their own reporting. Some don’t even bother to include quotes, even when the story would benefit from the inclusion of real people and experts. These shortcuts don’t endear you to editors or readers. Is Social Media Making Journalists Lazy? [...]

By: The Power Behind Proper Social Media Inclusion and Attribution in Traditional Media | Catchfire Media Blog

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:43:08 +0000

[...] some argue that social media is making journalists lazy, I (clearly) much prefer to embrace technology for what it’s worth—out with the old, in with [...]

By: Worden journalisten lui? :: MEDIAvanNU : zoveel mogelijk met media

Worden journalisten lui? :: MEDIAvanNU : zoveel mogelijk met media — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:20:16 +0000

[...] vraag wordt opgeworpen door Mark Evans. “Veel journalisten blijven nog wel met hun bronnen spreken, maar een groeiend aantal kranten [...]

By: Ben Wise

Ben Wise — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:17:30 +0000

Yes and No. I don't think a posting on social media can qualify as a credible enough source but it can provide some additional colour and dimension to the discussion. Should it be the main source of info? No. Does it add value if used properly? Absolutely

By: Sam

Sam — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 03:23:58 +0000

The short answer is YES, but it may be a symptom of news revenues being marginalized with the public use of Google.

One of the pillars of a democratic society is freedom of press, and quality of journalism. At this point, I would not call the blogs sphere quality of journalism. Even traditional journalism is suffering because we just can't support that many sources anymore. We have yet to discover the impact of this on society.

I'm not in the industry but I know a few who are, and I'm empathetic to the whole issue. The news industry has to figure out something, and if it takes ideas from Rupert Murdock, so be it.

By: Catherine

Catherine — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:54:36 +0000

Whatever happened to picking up a telephone?
I thought about this lastnight watching Frontline's documentary about the ways the internet has changed work patterns; this shift is, I think, triply true for the journalism industry. While we have to be able to use the digital tools at our disposal effectively, we can never lose the core skill set that defines credibility.

(Aside: what editor thought this kind of a quote would be acceptable? Sheesh!!)

By: Mike Connell

Mike Connell — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:38:29 +0000

IMO, lazy journalism. Useful and interesting material that can trigger/continue other/the conversation, but as a former journalist I know my UE and the credibility of the article would be damaged as soon as I saw attribution given to a tweet or online blog comment… if the fact checker or author noted that the source was directly contacted to confirm the contents of the social media reference, then ok, but at that point why not quote the source directly?

By: themuna

themuna — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:33:45 +0000

As you note, it does speak to social media, and may continue the conversation, but at what cost? Is the story about social media, or the content/meaning behind the quotation?

Likely the latter in most cases, so I say just get it from the horses mouth, not his avatar.

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:28:28 +0000

It's incredibly Lazy. Quoting some guy who's expertise on the issue is most likely non-existent is downright irresponsible.

If you're making reference to online commentary then, like any good researcher, you need to pull from multiple sources and make en effort to ensure that they're credible.

By: Robert Janelle

Robert Janelle — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:19:23 +0000

To answer your question: Yes.

Social media is a great tool for finding people with particular expertise or who clearly have something to say on the issue, but you know, pick up the phone and call them. Have a conversation and get some and add some more details to the story.

I realize smaller staff levels in newsrooms and increased deadline pressure make it a little difficult to say, sign up for a forum, send a private message to a poster and wait for a reply, but they're hardly the only source.

This is my feeling as a struggling young journalist (freelance now.)

As a news reader, I can't say I'm overly interested in what some anonymous blog commenter has to say about an issue. I think the strength of reputable news organizations is the ability to provide details that aren't available anywhere else.