SO NOW I'M A CITIZEN JOURNALIST??

As I get deeper into the social media phenomenon, I'm learning that sites like Facebook and Twitter really are changing the face of the news.  Today, I learned about the murder of a pro-choice doctor in Wichita, KS, from Facebook before I saw it on MSNBC.  I read about Susan Boyle's second-place showing on the Britain's Got Talent (BGT) finals on Twitter before most of the major news websites had posted the results.  I don't mean to compare these two events in importance because, obviously, there is a world of difference.  But I'm fascinated by the immediacy of this new "citizen journalism."  

Think about this.  Through cell phones and on-line social media, each one of us has the tools to be a news-breaking reporter.  You're at the scene of an accident and take video shots on your cell phone before police and camera crews arrive.  You're at a conference where a politician makes a sexist joke--you Twitter about it, and the next thing you know, mainstream media reporters are asking that politician to explain his (or her) comments. It appears that the center of news reporting power is beginning to shift away from traditional print and broadcast media to on-line social media driven by everyday people like you and me.

The impact of this shift has profound implications.  While one could argue that the mainstream media have never been completely "objective," the values of objectivity and balance are still considered essential to excellence in professional journalism.  Citizen journalists, on the other hand, are not necessarily engaged in a search for objectivity or balance.  They (we) tend to view social media forums as places where we can share our own personal views, and support them with selected links to others who share our beliefs. We are not held to the same standards as professional journalists because that's not who we are. 

Does this mean we have no responsibility for the things we post on Facebook or Twitter? Absolutely not. In fact, I would argue that we are obligated to exercise an extra measure of caution when expressing our views on-line. Just as we understand the risks of yelling "fire" in a crowded theater, so too must we recognize the risks of firing words out into cyberspace without regard for where and how they land.  

Having been in the PR business for almost forty years (ouch, it hurts to say that...), I made a commitment long ago to fair and accurate presentation of the facts in the practice of my profession.  I've never intentionally conveyed inaccurate information about a client's actions or behavior; in fact, I've never even been asked to do so.  I am careful always to make sure that I can verify and document every claim I make in the process of presenting a client's case.  I couldn't function any other way; it would be a violation of trust.

That makes it easy for me to make the transition to Facebook, Twitter and the on-line world of citizen journalism.  I just follow the simple rule my old boss, Jim Tills, taught me in 1972.  "Do the right thing, and then tell people about it." Jim was one of the smartest people I ever knew, and that was the best piece of advice I ever got.