Transparency in Digital Journalism
Although faced with live reporting and instantaneous publishing, journalists must strive to uphold accuracy and maintain transparency for readers.
In the era of digital journalism, we live in a world with a 24/7 news cycle. With the responsibility of providing coverage around the clock, citizen and professional journalists are charged with not only reporting at an expedited rate, but also ensuring that information is correct.
Julie Posetti, a journalist, professor and blogger at mediashift.org, notes that the Network of Global Agenda Council voted the spread of online misinformation as one of the top 10 trends facing the world. Posetti says that the “communal” and “rapid-fire” aspects of digital platforms contributes to the increase of reporting inaccuracies.
Young Soo Yang, a senior digital content manager at Stevens Institute of Technology, agrees. Yang serves as a writer and content publisher for the university and also edits the monthly digital newsletter. Yang formerly worked as an online content manager for New Jersey Public Television.
“It’s much more challenging because you don’t have the traditional deadlines, especially if it’s something that needs to be covered instantaneously,” said Yang. “You don’t have the luxury of waiting to make sure everything is just right.”
Thus, as digital journalists are pushed to produce and publish content at an expedited rate, it is important that individuals and organizations are transparent with their correction policies and guidelines. Yang’s process includes placing a footnote at the bottom of the story, indicating the update was a correction of previously published content.
“When I was with the news division, if there was a factual correction we’d make a note of it online, even though the content didn’t exist anywhere else,” Yang said.
However, Yang points out there are differences in the types of errors that occur when publishing content online.
“If it’s just a typo, you just fix it. If it’s a factual inaccuracy, you have to make a note especially if you’re reporting the news. You have to make that correction because it’s already been viewed and you have to let them know it’s been corrected,” Yang said.
Sandra Ordonez, a social media manager, notes there are also different classifications of errors within social media. This includes not only factual errors, but posts that could reflect negatively on the brand. Ordonez manages all of the social media brand channels at Stevens and is responsible for sharing news stories and engaging with social media users.
“As a brand, you want to be held accountable for your actions and should acknowledge the error made in a new tweet or post,” said Ordonez.
Ordonez notes that although social media posts that contain inaccuracies should be corrected rather than deleted, there are instances where the post should be deleted.
“There are instances that deleting will be the right course of action such as something that is off-brand for your business,” Ordonez said.
Although Yang and Ordonez specifically reference text edits, journalists and organizations also must be aware of the images they post that accompany stories.
Michael Hofmann, an interactive web and graphic designer at Stevens with over a decade of experience with large consumer brands, notes online corrections apply to images as well.
Hofmann only edits photos appearing with text or stories slightly, such as adjusting the tone or lighting. However, similar to Ordonez, there are times Hofmann has edited a photo that could negatively impact the brand.
“In some cases, if there is really no other photo available, I have modified photos before. One example would be if a picture was posted quickly and no one noticed a student holding an alcoholic beverage in the background,” Hofmann said.
Thus, as digital journalists take on multiple responsibilities including live reporting, photo production and content publishing, Yang notes it is important to stay up-to-date with various skills.
“You do need to have different reporting skills. There’s different approaches to print and online,” Yang said.
For digital journalists today, this also includes remaining transparent with readers and acknowledging when factual errors are made.
For those organizations or journalists without formal guidelines on reporting, references can be made to the Society of Professional Journalist’s Code of Ethics. According to the code, journalists should “Gather, update and correct information throughout the life of a news story.”
To learn more about ethics in journalism, including correction guidelines, visit the www.spj.org/ethics.asp.
