Sources and contacts: A social media snowstorm by David Stephenson
Sources are the lifeblood of journalism. Ask Julian Assange. Of course many will dispute whether he is indeed a journalist or webpreneur, but the subjects of Wikileaks and Egypt have made me think more and more about sources, and how much, if any, as journalists, we can rely on in the snowstorm of information that arrives on the desktop via social media and the blogosphere.
My conclusion this week is that much of it should be used as leads only. Even this blog. The rise of citizen journalism means micro-blogging and long-form blogging, if you like, are platforms of opinion, not necessarily fact. Essentially we as journalists are concerned with what we can establish to be true. Beyond that is opinion. Micro blogging, especially in the Egypt crisis allows certain shades of opinion to be more effectively communicated to a wider world. Searching on the Twitter hashtag Egypt (#egypt) was a study in the social network snowstorm of Twitter. Finally I resorted to established news providers, through Twitter, such as Al Jazeera for reliable reportage and news coverage. Of course, Al Jazeera has a take on the world too, but its reporting should be much more reliable, for instance, than a protester in Tahrir Square, albiet not as colourful. I would advise any student of journalism to treat these sources as "unreliable" until proved otherwise.
As a journalist your typical day involves sifting through sources and contacts, some you will rely upon more than others. These are some of the most important decisions you will make as a journalist. The veracity of these sources/contacts will determine the strength of the stories you write for publication. To get ahead as a journalist you can't simply rely on rewriting copy from Reuters, the agency, who have a feed into most newsrooms. You will never receive a promotion that way.
I run the website Journalism Tutor. I have a course based around developing contacts. You will find this crucial in moving on your career. Without good contacts, and understanding sources in news, you will struggle.
Try Journalism Tutor's first two courses for FREE, plus a free tutorial with Fleet Street TV Editor and lecturer in journalism David Stephenson.
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About the Author
David Stephenson is the TV Editor of the Sunday Express in London, UK.
He runs the Journalism Tutor teaching website Journalism Tutor where you can download TWO FREE courses
