Welcome to Episode 14 of Reporters Shop Talk, I'm Stu Campaigne, a reporter at BayToday here with my colleague Dave Dale, as always. Dave, something that's come up in our discussions, is what kind of social media presence should be expected of journalists or rather what's an acceptable social media presence? For instance, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram? Any thoughts to start us off with that?
Dave: Well, actually, it's been a real struggle for myself coming out of a period of time when we didn't have those things and then entering into it and trying to compete with the online presence that was, you know, pretty well required of us at one point and very much encouraged. But, then we had to sort of set up boundaries and figure out how we're supposed to present ourselves as in the public eye, even when we're not working. It extended the day to be 24/7 representing our profession.
Stu: What's the struggle you're finding?
Dave: We created our profiles and a lot of people grew their reach and audience at the same time. They're using their Facebook as a personal thing to grow their network of family friends.
On my Facebook friend list, there's you know, it's pretty small, like for a reporter, I have about just under 1,900, most of whom I've never met, but a great many of the people I interact with on both the social and personal and professional level.
Stu: So imagine I am a new journalist, I've just joined today. I have a personal Facebook page, but I'm not willing to use it for my work purposes. So is it worth making like a business page?
Dave: Yeah, I think in the long run, that's probably the better way to go about it and I'm kind of moving towards that myself. No matter what I'm doing online I consider it coming from my professional persona. So, I'm always trying to be professional even when I'm commenting on my friend's stuff.
Stu: That's right. And I think that's where the, you know, the interest in this topic really resonated with us was, you know, I think it's gotten to the point where, you know, a social media presence is expected. But let's be honest, you have to [have it] to be able to do this job, at least the way we do our jobs. Social media is an important part of it. I'm not a huge fan of it anymore. I think I was into it for a few years and it just kind of became the same old for me, you know, memes and jokes and whatever else. I mean, they're funny and I still get a kick out of a lot of them, but I just find I spend way too much time using it when I should be spending time researching or writing articles. I'm on Facebook and, you know, people talk about going down those wormholes while they do that. I'm watching videos of bare-knuckle fighting in Ireland. And next thing I'm watching goats run in circles. And next thing I know, I haven't done any work for the last hour. So I think that's my issue.
Dave: Yeah. You know what? I would prefer that if I'm working for a media platform, that I shouldn't have to go find readers. That's, I think, that's the crux of it.
For the last little while, media companies expected the reporters to grow their own base to draw people into the company's product and services that they work for. And I think that's a terrible model, really. I shouldn't be marketing my stories as a journalist. It shouldn't be up to me to go find readers.
Stu: I agree.
But, it's important to have those limits where, you know, I'm kind of like you were, I do have quite a few people on my Facebook that I have no idea who they are. And I'm assuming they got my name from our website. And in a way, it's fair game. If I wanted to hide from those people, so to speak, I would just change my handle on Facebook, you know.
But I decided not to go in that direction.
And I think, looking back, I wish I kind of had split things up, because now not only do I have probably hundreds of people on there who are interested in the work that we do...This is I think what you're describing is what I go through on a smaller scale where I do find myself at times filtering what I'm putting out there for people to see. Now, that can be done a few different ways and that could be part of the privacy settings you use or just not posting something you think might be a problem down the line.
Dave: Yeah, I struggle with the same thing. And even though I said what I said regarding reporters shouldn't have to go find people to read their work, I know that the reality is some reporters end up having to do that because they're going to be freelancers, they're not going to work for just one organization, so they need to actually prove that they have followers and a reach or they wouldn't sometimes even get hired. Right. So, it's a double-edged sword. And once you go that way … it's a quandary in my mind.
Stu: What I'm worried about, as my career has gone on, I have young children, now they're not as young, but I just I think everyone's entitled to a bit of privacy. And again, that comes down to your settings and what you put out there, and you really only attract the attention that is a response to what you put out in cyberspace. So, if I'm going to put a bunch of pictures of my kids, I'm going to have to expect that people know who my kids are. And there's a whole bunch of arguments for and against that.
Maybe it depends on the type of work you do as a journalist. I mean, if we're writing business reviews and other kinds of, I don't want to say puff pieces, but things that are not controversial, I think your social media profile is a pretty safe place. But, a lot of us write on controversial issues, contentious issues, things that people have really strong opinions on. And I think that's where you run into trouble, where that world meets your private life. Another question is, what's your private life doing on social media, to begin with? But, I think it's out there for a lot of people. And that's the struggle. I have gone from a somewhat public, you know, family life to now more of private family life with a work presence.
Dave: I've been writing columns about myself, my work and my family and my experiences for 30 years. It was a lot less of an issue when it was only in print.
It's a bigger issue now that it's something that could actually be viral in nature.
But the biggest thing is, and this is what it boils down to, and it doesn't matter what platform you're on or what you're doing as a journalist, we have to act professionally all the time, even if we're columnists. Right? Even if we're giving our opinion on things as part of our package that we offer, it's more important than ever to be professional and not to pick sides too securely, better to ask questions and probe into an issue with a comment rather than being divisive and absolute. I think that's the biggest danger — when a reporter becomes an activist.
Stu: So in North Bay and our area, you know, right in the middle of the stay at home orders that have been extended, you know, beyond small business wants, beyond the public's desire to be in lockdown, but done for health reasons nonetheless, as a reporter, is it out of line for me to take a real stance one way or the other on social media and then turn around and write about it in a balanced way on my platform?
That's got to be that's the big question, whether you can let your perspective and viewpoint and opinion be known.
Dave: You should present your opinion in the same way you would present a story, a news story, by backing up what you’re saying with some type of relevance, with some type of research. I think it's expected of us not to just have a flippant opinion. We should actually try to ask the important questions even when we're giving our opinion.
Stu: What about a journalist who champions politicians mostly for personal reasons?
Dave: I think a journalist should avoid any perception that they're in support of a politician in general. So applauding anything they do and sucking up to them is a no-no, in my book. You can give them credit for making a good decision, but do it in a professional way where you're not tied to that person for their next decision. When you get to the point when somebody already knows your opinion before they read the article and they expect a certain slant on it, then you've gone too far and you've made mistakes in your professional choices.
Stu: Can journalists be social media personalities? Can those things possibly coexist?
Dave: Yeah, but only if the ‘personality’ is one of a professional journalist. You come out of it thinking, well, I can trust that guy not to leave out important things. And I think that's what you want to aim for, is how you present yourself. Right?
Stu: I think that's it. You got it right, for sure.
