In the digital age, news outlets are no longer limited to covering significant stories like the Saretzky case in print. They now have the freedom to broadcast the stories on television, radio, publish on the web and share live updates through social media.
Grant was assigned to live-tweet the trial and to publish stories on the web, while her colleagues covered the story for broadcast.
“These stories have more readers than anything else I’ve ever written apart from another triple homicide involving a child,” she said. “So, on one hand, you have readership in the millions but on the other hand, you have more complaints than I’ve ever seen.”
JSP states that journalists’ approach to using social media requires the same standards applied to any form of newsgathering: “We are consistent in our standards, no matter what the platform, in disseminating information. If we would not put the information on air or on our own website, we would not use social media to report that information.”1Journalistic Standards and Principles.Use of Social Media: Principles. http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/en/reporting-to-canadians/acts-and-policies/programming/journalism/social-media/. Accessed December 14, 2017.
Though all social media platforms require the same rigid adherence to the JSP principles, news organizations apply different standards based on what audience they are serving. For example, when considering the difference between a web and a broadcast audience, CBC had to consider that it’s “a passive versus an active audience,” said Grant. 2 Meghan Grant. Interview done by Daniel LeBaron, Sade Lewis, Devika Desai. November 28, 2017.
Listen to Grant here :
Dvorkin said that the daily questions newsrooms ask themselves about their public presentation of information have been “compounded by the fragmentation of audiences caused by the digital revolution.” “[This has] allowed for an undercutting of the economic bases of news organizations, fragmentation of audiences, a digital deviance, which has driven the audience down,” he said.
Grant said that the sheer volume of evidence, compounded with the realities of a 24-hour news cycle, made the decision-making more complex. “These were sort of moving targets, because we were putting this stuff out there, feel like we had this under control and trying to do the best for our audience,” she said.
Next: 5. The 24-Hour News Cycle
References
| ￪1 | Journalistic Standards and Principles.Use of Social Media: Principles. http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/en/reporting-to-canadians/acts-and-policies/programming/journalism/social-media/. Accessed December 14, 2017. |
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| ￪2 | Meghan Grant. Interview done by Daniel LeBaron, Sade Lewis, Devika Desai. November 28, 2017. |