newsonaut

Turning inner space into outer space

December 13, 2011

Using Twitter as a source of quotes

Belinda Alzner at j-source.ca:

The trend toward using people who tweet as legitimate sources in stories, and using stand-alone tweets as quotes, counteracts a primary function of the profession and promotes reactive reporting. There is a right way and a wrong way to use Twitter in journalism — making the digital platform journalist’s best friend and journalism’s worst enemy.

A better idea is to use tweets as tips. If someone says something interesting, you can contact them for an interview — or at least a confirmation that they actually said it.

Link: Twitter: Journalists’ best friend and journalism’s worst enemy