Digital - Wednesday, May 6, 2009 10:52 - 0 Comments

Social media prompts CBC journalism review

CBC is going to revise its journalistic code to take account of the emergence of social media and other web trends.

In a posting, CBC’s executive editor of news operations Esther Enkin said the current version, dating from 2003, “feels almost quaint”:

Twitter, Facebook and a host of social media have the potential to be exciting and valuable tools for journalists. But how best to use them? What are the rules of engagement? We know the overriding journalistic principles are the same, but are the applications different in the web world?

CBC is asking the public for its comments on the post, posing the question: “What aspects of our journalism do you think need consideration?”

News organisations are grappling with how to deal with issues like comments on stories, archived content and social media.

It could look to the BBC, which has detailed guidelines on social networking and on the personal blogs of journalists.