When Everyone Can Post, What Makes a Journalist?
Anyone with a phone can share a photo or video before a reporter gets to the scene. And sure, that can be incredibly useful. We get to see moments that might otherwise be missed or censored, often from the people closest to them. But there’s a downside: a video can leave out context, and a rumor can spread before anyone checks it.
People are doing more than watching
People don’t just consume news anymore. They get in the comments, share, ask questions and sometimes provide the footage that starts a story. That’s what makes today’s audience “active.” The conversation keeps going after a story is published, and journalists need to pay attention to it. As well as verify multiple sources from all the different angles the story is being told.
That doesn’t mean every viral post should become a headline. If someone sends me a video, I’d want to know who recorded it, when they recorded it and what happened before and after the clip. An audience can help a reporter find a story, but the reporter still has to verify it. Without verification a story can have inconsistencies or be completely false due to a lack of first hand information. If a story ends up being false, journalists can lose the trust of an audience very easily.
The format matters
Working in sports production has shown me how differently people connect with the same moment. Someone might watch a full broadcast, while someone else only sees a 20-second clip on Instagram. Journalists need to know how to tell a story in both places and how to talk with the people responding to it. Social media has added another facet to the journalism profession. Journalists must now market themselves to a mass audience on social media in order to gain credibility and popularity for their stories.
A journalist today might write an article, shoot a vertical video and answer questions in the comments, all about the same story. To me, the most valuable skill is knowing when to slow down. Ask who recorded the video. Find another source. Say what you don’t know yet. We can use these platforms to reach people quickly without asking them to take our word for it.
