RSS
Reuters Social Media Policy Gets It Half Right, Half Wrong
from the scoop-de-what? dept
Just a couple of months ago, I wrote about something that I thought was really impressive by Thomson Reuters. A Reuters blogger wrote a blog post on his official Reuters blog questioning Reuters itself after rumors started spreading that the company had spiked an article after pressure from the article's subject. Now, the two stories might cancel each other out in some way. Spiking a story based on pressure from the subject is bad, but allowing an employee to publicly question the action on a company blog shows an openness that I thought was impressive.
However, with the release of Reuters' new social media policies, it looks like the blogger, Chris Clair, would have broken one of the new rules:
While there are plenty of reasonable and useful suggestions in the Reuters social media policies, some of it seems to go against what Reuters own Editor in Chief, David Schlesinger, said just last year:
However, with the release of Reuters' new social media policies, it looks like the blogger, Chris Clair, would have broken one of the new rules:
The advent of social media does not change your relationship with the company that employs you -- do not use social media to embarrass or disparage Thomson Reuters.Then there's this:
We're in a competitive business and while the spirit of social media is collaborative we need to take care not to undermine the commercial basis of our company.The thing is, since you are in a competitive business, it's worth noting that all of your competitors are trying to "undermine the basis" of your company -- and thus it tends to be better to undermine yourself before someone else undermines you. So, while I understand why Reuters would say the following about Twitter usage:
As with blogging within Reuters News, you should make sure that if you have hard news content that it is broken first via the wire. Don't scoop the wire.It doesn't really make much sense. It also goes against what some at Reuters have successfully done. You can still "scoop the wire" and then publish a full report on the wire. In fact, if you use Twitter correctly, you can build a lot more interest in the upcoming full story.
While there are plenty of reasonable and useful suggestions in the Reuters social media policies, some of it seems to go against what Reuters own Editor in Chief, David Schlesinger, said just last year:
The old means of control don't work.
The old categories don't work.
The old ways of thinking won't work.
We all need to come to terms with that.
Fundamentally, the old media won't control news dissemination in the future. And organisations can't control access using old forms of accreditation any more.
I have an app...
Marketing And Monetization Strategies For Free Apps
How My First Game Made $28,623
I’m looking for research...
Innovate More. Code Less: Optimizing Open-Source Utilization
Apps, Platforms, Consumer Use
I have a business...
Why 50,000 Monthly Active Users Weren't Enough To Stop This Company From Pivoting, With Spun Co-Founder Scott Lindenbaum
To Understand The Data Move It Closer
Reader Comments (rss)
(Flattened / Threaded)
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
I tend to agree that they're better than almost anyone. Though, does the Guardian in the UK count? The Washington Post has some possibilities as well.
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Don't scoop the wires
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
Guardian is definitely up there too. WaPo is so chock full of business instinct that I guess they are a good bet as well - I just feel like they are adapting with begrudging pragmatism, while Reuters is embracing the mechanics and the ideology of the revolution with open arms.
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re:
Don't know how that could be objectively judged though...
Guardian is definitely up there too. WaPo is so chock full of business instinct that I guess they are a good bet as well - I just feel like they are adapting with begrudging pragmatism, while Reuters is embracing the mechanics and the ideology of the revolution with open arms.
Yeah, good point on the WaPo. And as Jay Rosen has been pointing out lately, WaPo recently decided to let the print people win, and pushed their digital people out... so looks like they just went the wrong way.
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re:
I really dont have much hope that any of them will survive. When papers that deal in business news start folding its a sure sign that the entrenced "offical news" mind set doesnt allow for change. NPR, BBC and university news are the ones I see surviving.
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Add Your Comment