NEW YORK TIMES’ POLICY ON FACEBOOK AND
OTHER SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES
[1] From PoynterOnline, advice by The New York Times’
assistant managing editor who oversees journalist
standards on using Facebook. Here’s the idea: you’re
always representing your employer and what you say
[5] and do […] can shape perceptions in unpredictable and
potentially adverse ways.
Facebook and other social networking sites —
MySpace, LinkedIn, even Twitter — can be remarkably
useful reporting tools, as the Virginia Tech shooting in
[10] 2007 proved. As we’ve discovered from the experts on
our staff, Facebook pages often tell a lot about a person’s
work, interests, friends, and thoughts, and, as one page
leads or links to another, Facebook can help reporters
do triangulation on difficult-to-research subjects. What
[15] people write on Facebook sites is publicly available
information, like anything posted on any site that is not
encrypted.
But there are a few things to be careful about,
nonetheless.
[20] One of them is that outsiders can read your Facebook
page, and that personal blogs and “tweets” represent
you to the outside world just as much as an 800-word
article does. If you have or are getting a Facebook page,
leave blank the section that asks about your political
[25] views, in accordance with the Ethical Journalism
admonition to do nothing that might cast doubt on your
or The Times’s political impartiality in reporting the news.
Remember that although you might get useful leads by
joining a group on one of these sites, it will appear on
[30] your page, connoting that you “joined” it — potentially
complicated if it is a political group, or a controversial
group.
Be careful not to write anything on a blog or a
personal Web page that you could not write in The Times
[35] — don’t editorialize, for instance, if you work for the News
Department. Anything you post online can and might be
publicly disseminated, and can be twisted to be used
against you by those who wish you or The Times ill —
whether it’s text, photographs, or video. That includes
[40] things you recommend on TimesPeople or articles you
post to Facebook and Digg, content you share with
friends on MySpace, and articles you recommend
through TimesPeople. It can also include things posted
by outside parties to your Facebook page, so keep an
[45] eye on what appears there. Just remember that we are
always under scrutiny by magnifying glass and that the
possibilities of digital distortion are virtually unlimited,
so always ask yourself, could this be deliberately
misconstrued or misunderstood by somebody who wants
[50] to make me look bad?
Reporters can ask questions by e-mail using
addresses found on Facebook, of course, but the same
rules that apply to telephone contacts (or personal
contacts) apply. “The Times treats news sources just
[55] as fairly and openly as it treats readers,” Ethical
Journalism says. “We do not inquire pointlessly into
someone’s personal life.” Approaching minors by e-mail
or by telephone, or in person, to ask about their or their
parents’ private lives or friends is a particularly sensitive
[60] area. Depending on the circumstances, it may not be
advisable. In every case, reporters and editors should
first consult with the Standards Editor before going ahead
with such inquiries.
By Matt Armstrong PoynterOnline, May 4, 2009 Disponível em http://mountainrunner.us/2009/05/nytfacebookpolicy.html (with slight adaptations)
In “...in accordance with the Ethical Journalism admonition to do nothing that might cast doubt on your or The Times’s political impartiality in reporting the news.” (lines 25-27), “cast doubt on” could be replaced with:
