NYU Journalism Handbook for Students

NYU Journalism Handbook for Students

Ethics, Law and Good Practice

Carter Journalism Institute
Faculty of Arts and Science
New York University
20 Cooper Square
New York, NY 10003

By Prof. Adam L. Penenberg

REVISED 2020

Open Access License: The author of this work, in conjunction with the Carter Institute at New York University, has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution License to this Ethics Handbook. While the author and the journalism institute retain ownership, we encourage others to reprint, amend and distribute this work for both commercial and noncommercial uses, as long as the original author and the journalism institute are credited. This broad license was developed to allow open and free access to original works of all types.

SOCIAL MEDIA

You are what you tweet or post on Facebook or Instagram. By that we mean you become a public figure when you participate on social media, what you say there reflects on you and social media mistakes can exist in perpetuity on the internet, revealed with a simple search or through the Wayback Machine. Every publication has its own rules governing staff use of social media. The Washington Post prohibits conduct on social media that “adversely affects The Post’s customers, advertisers, subscribers, vendors, suppliers or partners” and its management claims the right to take disciplinary action “up to and including termination of employment.” Bloomberg tells its staff not to join groups on social networks dedicated to a particular political opinion or cause and to not argue with those critical of its work. NPR wants reporters and editors to conduct themselves on social media just as they would in any other public circumstances. “Treat those you encounter online with fairness, honesty and respect, just as you would offline” and “do not disparage the work of others.”

If you post malicious, immature or prurient material, or engage in online trolling or acrimonious back and forth, you could inadvertently undermine your credibility and ethical standing.

On social media, you’re your own fact-checker – especially when sharing content from another user. You should vet information before passing it along over social media. Journalists have a responsibility not to add to the cloud of false information that is floating about. Just by retweeting or reposting a piece of information, in the eyes of many you are effectively reporting that information. When in doubt, verify. If a journalist amplifies something over social media that turns out to be false, they should correct the record. A rule of thumb: since everything you write online is, in effect, published, the NYU Journalism faculty urges you not to write anything that violates the rules of honest and decent journalism.

In an era when journalists are often accused of promulgating “fake news,” it’s critical that when journalists are using platforms for their reporting including social media, chatrooms and forums (e.g. Reddit, 4chan, 8chan, QAnon etc.) they verify their sources and information from these sites. It’s extremely important to be skeptical about all information and sources uncovered on these sites, because in most cases, the sites are intended to troll people. Don’t use anonymous message boards as primary sources. Keep in mind that some users of these sites are dangerous (or at very least, racist, sexist and homophobic), so try to keep a low profile.