Journalism’s rapid and ardent embrace of social media also has its downside. Standards and practices for social media vary, if they exist at all. Tweets of unverified information in breaking news situations can sow havoc. And, as Reddit’s misguided online witch hunt for suspects after the Boston Marathon Bombing recently proved, the online crowd is not always so wise. What can journalists do to make social media as ethical as it is effective?
Join us for networking at 6:30 pm and a panel discussion at 7:00 pm.
Our panel:
Dean Wright became an innovator in online news in 1996 when, after 25 years in print and wire journalism, he joined the newly launched MSNBC.com, eventually rising to Vice President and Editor-in-Chief. In 2005, he moved to Thomson Reuters, where he established consumer websites in China, Japan, India, the UK and the US. As Global Editor for Ethics and Standards at Thomson Reuters, he developed policies and practices for editorial quality, transparency, social media and anti-bribery and corruption training. He now consults with media organizations worldwide from Bellingham, Wash.
Joan Connell is an award-winning journalist with a longstanding interest in digital media, ethics and moral issues. After a long career as a writer and editor specializing in religion and ethics, she spent eight years at MSNBC.com as executive producer for Opinions in Redmond, Wash. She then served as Online Editor at The Nation Magazine in New York and later Associate Director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University School of Journalism. She currently works as a media consultant in Bellingham, Wash. and teaches media ethics, narrative nonfiction and news writing at Western Washington University.
Dr. Stephen J.A. Ward is Professor and Director of the UO’s George S. Turnbull Center for Media in Portland, Oregon. Previously, he was the Burgess Chair of Journalism Ethics and founding director of the Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. For 14 years, he was a foreign reporter, war correspondent and newsroom manager. He is the founding chair of the ethics committee for the Canadian Association of Journalists. Prof. Ward is the author of the award-winning The Invention of Journalism Ethics, plus Global Journalism Ethics, Ethics and the Media: An Introduction, and most recently, Global Media Ethics: Problems and Perspectives.
Moderator: Morgan Holm is Vice President of News and Public Affairs at Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland. He has served as news director, host, producer and reporter since joining OPB in 1990.