WSJ: Social networking "Dos and Don'ts" for staff

Posted by Soraya Kishtwari on May 14, 2009 at 12:54 PM

Further to an Editors Weblog article yesterday on the potential of social networking sites as news tools, editorial staff at the Wall Street Journal have been handed a set of guidelines for "professional conduct," detailing the dos and don'ts of using a social networking site, the Editor & Publisher has reported.

E&P has a copy of the memo sent out to employees here. Among the rules include a warning about adding or accepting a friend that might be a confidential news source and therefore jeopardising said source by leaving them exposed to poachers and possible invasions of privacy - staff are advised to check with their editors.

Also, journalists are discouraged from enlisting friends or family members to "promote or defend" their work and are likewise told to avoid criticising the work of colleagues. With regards to collecting data and general information from users on sites, reporters are told to be upfront about who they are, who they represent and questions should remain neutral in tone.

In the emailed memo, Alix Freedman, deputy managing editor told employees: "We've pulled together into one document the policies that guide appropriate professional conduct for all of us in the News Departments of the Journal, Newswires and MarketWatch. Many of these will be familiar."

Staff are reminded that social networking sites are not the place to mix business and pleasure and that whilst "common sense should prevail" anyone in doubt should consult their appropriate editors.

The memo was sent as part of a general update on staff etiquette, including instructions on how to behave in a multitude of situations, from everyday outside activities to television and radio appearances.

How staff have reacted to the revised rules is not yet clear, but the guidelines based on online behaviour, in particular, seem reasonable. The Wall Street Journal is right to err on the side of caution by pointing out the seemingly obvious, and in so doing, demonstrates the influence that social media has on newspaper businesses.

Source: E&P , Washington Post.com