Leveraging the strength of the community is now an integral part of digital news coverage, as are the ethics of publishing user-generated content. Share a discussion on issues of attribution, verification and industry standards in re-packaging content created by outside sources, as well as potential security risks in publishing content from some sources who put their lives on the line in going public.
Journalists should be open minded about what they view as UGC — the best stuff is beneath the superficial layers.
An example of #UGC and safety from @fergb: a guy who was tweeting from up a tree during Norway shooting. #ugcethics #ONA12
— Eric Carvin (@EricCarvin) September 22, 2012
Fergus, responding to an audience question, said that he likes his UGC “raw.” If you’re framing your questions and asking for something — it puts it on your terms.
“If you’re asking someone to do something, is that ethical in journalism?” @fergbasks about #UGC #ONA12 #UGCethics
— Aubrey (@Aubrey115) September 22, 2012
Again, as always, the panel stresses the importances of vetting every piece of information you come across.
.@nyt_jenpreston great line – when someone is dead on social media that’s a tip, not a fact #ugcethics #ONA12
— Abi Wright (@abiwrightny) September 22, 2012
The audience listens intently:
“@jillography: What was once #pressrow is now #tweetrow #ONA12 #ugcethics twitter.com/jillography/st…” I see me!!! not actually tweeting!!!
— Sara Loebig (@saraloebig) September 22, 2012
Audience question: When does it become unethical to use something without permission?
At @ap, other than in “extreme circumstances,” we don’t use content without permission, @fergb says. #ugcethics #ONA12
— Eric Carvin (@EricCarvin) September 22, 2012
Embedding a tweet, however, is OK under Twitter’s terms of service, Jennifer says.
Jennifer stresses again: Read comments on your own website — you can’t ignore those and focus only on social. You could miss something if you’re not watching.
.@nyt_jenpreston just mentioned how @ryangrim looking at a comment led him to the #47percent video #ugcethics #ona12
— Ethan Klapper (@ethanklapper) September 22, 2012
@amichel We’ve made very little investment in the community infrastructure. #ugcethics #ona12
— Marissa Nelson (@marissanelson) September 22, 2012
Mic’s not working at #ugcethics. No worries — the audience can ask questions at the speaker podium. #ONA12 twitter.com/AmyBartner/sta…
— Amy Bartner (@AmyBartner) September 22, 2012
“Newsrooms need an app to tell us what the Terms of Service is with every single platform…” @nyt_jenpreston #ugcethics #ONA12
— Sam Cohen (@NewsySam) September 22, 2012
Audience question: What do you do when you encounter something horrible (ie, the Facebook page of a serial killer)? And are we as journalists feeding into what they want when we encounter that page.
“The key is that just because something has happened, doesn’t mean you have to use it,” Fergus says.
“But I screenshot everything,” Jennifer added.
“We want to orchestrate osmosis between our readers and our reporters.” – @amichel #ugcethics #ONA12
— Bryan Toporek (@btoporek) September 22, 2012
Transparency is always important, Amanda says.
@amichel gives bit.ly/UqLgJa as an example of being transparent about how the UGC content came to be. #ugcethics
— Nancy Hanus (@nhanus) September 22, 2012
Is your newsroom trying a UGC experiment? Make sure it works first.
Best way to test a UGC assignment’s value, try doing it yourself first. Crucial. #ugcethics #ona12
— Brian Ries Verified! (@moneyries) September 22, 2012
Amanda asks, by a show of hands, how many newsrooms treat site comments more — or just as — seriously as social media. Few raised their hands.
“That’s about what I expected.”
The guardian took the time to respond to reader comments on their site. So simple, but very effective. @amichel #ONA12 #UGCethics
— Aubrey (@Aubrey115) September 22, 2012
Amanda Michel says journalists would be better served to reject UCG more quickly, efficiently.
It’s not just about getting things right, it’s about treating others right. – @amichel #ugcethics #ONA12
— Dean Praetorius (@DeanPraetorius) September 22, 2012
There’s enough social media saturation out there that if there isn’t anything on social, then it very likely didn’t happen.
.@nyt_jenpreston: No UGC to support rumor? Maybe the event didn’t actually happen (ie false rumor of NJ yacht explosion). #ugcethics
— Liz Heron (@lheron) September 22, 2012
“No UGC? No story. I think we’ve reached that point.” –@nyt_jenpreston #ugcethics #ONA12
— Amy Bartner (@AmyBartner) September 22, 2012
More suggestions for UGC:
RT @smydrad: Where @nytimes looks for UGC #ugcethics #ona12 twitter.com/smydrad/status…
— Sara Bueno (@TVwebproducer) September 22, 2012
Even farmers tweet.
“Finding tweeting farmers was easier than I thought”–@nyt_jenpreston on the #drought user-generated content #ONA12 #ugcethics
— Jill Knight (@jillography) September 22, 2012
First, you have to know where to get the user-generated content. Jennifer Preston gives several suggestions.
Where @nyt_jenpreston suggests to find user-generated content: topsy.com, Pinterest, Instagram, Reddit, & more. #ONA12 #ugcethics
— Amy Friedenberger (@AJFriedenberger) September 22, 2012
Love that @nyt_jenpreston refers to “letters to the editor” in newspapers as user-generated content; UGC is not new #ona12 #ugcethics
— Adrienne LB (@AdrienneLB) September 22, 2012
The AP has a rigid process for vetting user-generated content.
The @ap‘s verification process for user-generated content: #ugcethics #ONA12 twitter.com/lheron/status/…
— Liz Heron (@lheron) September 22, 2012
Fergus begins by saying that social media caused journalists to forget who they were and what they do — and he hopes that stops.
Ugc content is more powerful because it’s personal. #ugcethics #ONA12
— Dean Praetorius (@DeanPraetorius) September 22, 2012
Ethics of the Community Newsroom beginning. @nyt_preston @fergb and @amichael #ONA12 #ugcethics twitter.com/AJFriedenberge…
— Amy Friedenberger (@AJFriedenberger) September 22, 2012
I’ll be live tweeting the Ethics of the Community newsroom panel with @nyt_jenpreston @fergb @amichel #ugcethics #ONA12 twitter.com/jillography/st…
— Jill Knight (@jillography) September 22, 2012
The crowd continues to file in for this session. The room’s about half full right now.
Share your case studies and recommendations for best ethics practices for user generated content in newsrooms w/hashtag #ugcethics #ona12
— Jennifer Preston (@NYT_JenPreston) September 22, 2012
The session has now ended!