These are slides for an ethics workshop for the staff of the Las Cruces Sun-News

1. Digital Journalism
Ethics
Steve Buttry
Las Cruces Sun-News
November 2013
#DigitalEthics

2. SPJ Code of Ethics*
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Seek truth & report it
Minimize harm
Act independently
Be accountable
* Committee considering an update

3. Poynter Guiding Principles*
• Truthfulness
• Transparency
• Community
*Updated this year

4. Ethical issues
• Accuracy &
verification
• Verifying images
• Opinions
• Personal vs. pro
social media use
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Corrections
Attribution
Transparency
Crowdsourcing
Social media photos
Confidential sources

15. Context helps verify
• Check profile (name, bio, link)
• Check timeline (what do earlier
tweets/updates tell you?)
• Check followers & timelines (replies, RTs)
• Expand tweets to see conversation
• Follow; DM or tweet asking for interview
• Make screen grabs (they might delete)

16. Vetting & verifying
• Track back RTs, etc.
to source
• Look for clusters
• Location enabled?
• Evaluate the network
• Evaluate the history
• Links, photos?
• Take it old school
• Disclose, hedge,
repeat
• Be brave only in
correction
Tips from Craig Silverman, Regret the Error

17. Evaluating tweeps
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How long have they been tweeting?
Check previous tweets, interaction
Check bio, links
Check Klout score
Google name and scam, spammer
Contact & interview
Tips from Mandy Jenkins, Zombie Journalism

18. Verification
• Treat social media as tip service
• Consider situation, content, context
Always ask:
• How do you know that?
• How do they know that?

19. If your mother says
she loves you …
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Check her Twitter timeline, bio, links
Check her Facebook posts
Check followers & friends
Google her

20. Ethical issues
• Accuracy &
verification
• Verifying images
• Opinions
• Personal vs. pro
social media use
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Corrections
Attribution
Transparency
Crowdsourcing
Social media photos
Confidential sources

24. Verifying images
Places to verify images:
http://www.google.com/images
http://tineye.com
http://karmadecay.com/
http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports/a
rticle/102787/The-Process-ofVerification.aspx

25. Ethical issues
• Accuracy &
verification
• Verifying images
• Opinions
• Personal vs. pro
social media use
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Corrections
Attribution
Transparency
Crowdsourcing
Social media photos
Confidential sources

26. Guidelines on opinions
• Situation guides whether opinions are
appropriate
• Discuss w/ editor whether opinions are
appropriate for your position
• Consult if pushing boundaries
• You can be personable without
expressing opinions

27. Opinion types
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Analysis
Personal perspective
Commentary
Advocacy
Off your beat (news reporter stating
sports or entertainment opinions)
• Journalism issues

28. Opinion formats
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Editorial
Column
Blog (doesn’t have to be opinion)
Social media
Comments on stories
Public appearances (radio, civic clubs)

29. Ethical issues
• Accuracy &
verification
• Verifying images
• Opinions
• Personal vs. pro
social media use
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Corrections
Attribution
Transparency
Crowdsourcing
Social media photos
Confidential sources

30. Personal vs. pro
• Always identify on personal accounts (or
disclose to boss)
• Even if account is private, behave
professionally
• Be personable on pro account

35. Ethical issues
• Accuracy &
verification
• Verifying images
• Opinions
• Personal vs. pro
social media use
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Corrections
Attribution
Transparency
Crowdsourcing
Social media photos
Confidential sources

36. Corrections
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Acknowledge the error & say what it was
Verify before correcting
Correct in platforms where you erred
For serious errors, reach out to those
who have RT’d, shared, linked
• Examine processes to prevent future
errors.

38. Ethical issues
• Accuracy &
verification
• Verifying images
• Opinions
• Personal vs. pro
social media use
•
•
•
•
•
•
Corrections
Attribution
Transparency
Crowdsourcing
Social media photos
Confidential sources

39. Plagiarism …
… is a firing offense. Don’t:
• Lift passages from other sources without
attribution & link

40. Plagiarism …
… is a firing offense. Don’t:
• Lift passages from other sources without
attribution & link
• Lift quotes from other media w/o
attribution (to media, not just speaker)

41. Plagiarism …
… is a firing offense. Don’t:
• Lift passages from other sources without
attribution & link
• Lift quotes from other media w/o
attribution (to media, not just speaker)
• Lift from press release without
attribution (& link if it’s online)

42. Plagiarism …
… is a firing offense. Don’t:
• Lift passages from other sources without
attribution & link
• Lift quotes from other media w/o
attribution (to media, not just speaker)
• Lift from press release without
attribution (& link if it’s online)
• Rewrite w/o attribution & link

44. Links = good business
• Better SEO for better search traffic
• Pingbacks, alerts from links bring direct
traffic
• Pingbacks, alerts from links may bring
new inbound links & social mentions
• Links = traffic = revenue = journo jobs

45. Links = good journalism
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Context
Depth
Attribution
Credibility
Clarity
Honesty
Transparency

46. Attribution in social media
• Native “share” or “retweet” carries
attribution
• RT or MT (modified tweet) if adding
comment
• HT or h/t for “heard through” or “hat tip”
• Not necessary to repeat attribution
endlessly in livetweeting

47. Embeds > links
• Embeds are the ultimate attribution
• Embed tweets, videos, slides, source
documents
• Facebook & Instagram recently added
embed codes
• Embedding tools: Storify, Spundge,
Scribd, Document Cloud, SlideShare

48. No attribution needed:
• What you witnessed personally
• Common knowledge
• Calendar (unless quoting); source is
implied
• If you re-report, acknowledge that you
weren’t first, but don’t need heavy
attribution to other media

49. Cut & paste
Cutting & pasting from digital sources can
ensure quoting accurately. But:
• Attribute & link before pasting
• Paste into quotation marks or block
quote
• Color code in notes to identify sources
• Sloppiness is guilty plea, not excuse

54. Linking as BS detection
Journalists covering Manti Te’o’s story of
girlfriend would have exposed the hoax by
seeking links to:
• Obituary
• Story or police report about accident
• Girlfriend’s activities at Stanford
(She did have bogus social media profiles.)

55. Effective attribution
• Write stories with links: Digital First
• Attribute to other media by name,
including competition, not “media
reports” or “a blogger”
• Active voice, not “was reported”
• Attribute to press releases
• Embed tweets, videos

56. Ethical issues
• Accuracy &
verification
• Verifying images
• Opinions
• Personal vs. pro
social media use
•
•
•
•
•
•
Corrections
Attribution
Transparency
Crowdsourcing
Social media photos
Confidential sources

57. Transparency
• Social media profiles used professionally
should ID you by name & newsroom
• Identify in email & social messages
• State when inquiries are for publication
• Show your work, using links & embeds
• State when working on a story
• What should you disclose?

59. Ethical issues
• Accuracy &
verification
• Verifying images
• Opinions
• Personal vs. pro
social media use
•
•
•
•
•
•
Corrections
Attribution
Transparency
Crowdsourcing
Social media photos
Confidential sources

65. Ethical issues
• Accuracy &
verification
• Verifying images
• Opinions
• Personal vs. pro
social media use
•
•
•
•
•
•
Corrections
Attribution
Transparency
Crowdsourcing
Social media photos
Confidential sources

66. Using social media photos
• Ask for permission to use photo (person
posting might not have rights)
• Embeds carry permission
• Screen grab of FB page is better than just
copying (context, transformative)
• Verify authenticity
• Explain context

67. Ethical issues
• Accuracy &
verification
• Verifying images
• Opinions
• Personal vs. pro
social media use
•
•
•
•
•
•
Corrections
Attribution
Transparency
Crowdsourcing
Social media photos
Confidential sources

68. Confidentiality issues
• Don’t call source anonymous if you know
identity
• Why does source want confidentiality
(whistleblower, unsure of facts, avoiding
confidentiality)?
• If unsure of facts, say you wouldn’t use
as source, just for tips

69. Confidentiality issues
• Be demanding of sources approaching
you who want confidentiality
• Don’t give confidentiality to the powerful
& eager
• No opinions w/o names
• Ask source for documentation
• Tell source you’ll seek other sources

70. Technology issues
• Government surveillance of you or
source could compromise confidentiality
• Definitely an issue in national security
cases, but possibly local & state, too
• Use encryption
• Consider “burner cells”
• Meet face to face

71. Ethics resources
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Guiding Principles for the Journalist
Telling the Truth and Nothing But ebook
Verification Handbook (due out in Jan.)
SPJ Code of Ethics (last updated 1996)
Regret the Error blog & book
New Ethics of Journalism book
stevebuttry.wordpress.com

72. Call me any time
Ethics questions are important & urgent.
I’ll respond quickly if you tell me you’re
dealing with an ethics question. Call me at
267-697-9275; if that doesn’t work, email
me: sbuttry@digitalfirstmedia.com