Heard of the Instagram account that claimed to document a migrant's journey to Europe last year? It was later discovered as fake, set up by a Spanish videographer to highlight the 'frivolity of social media'... but only after it had been reported on by many reputable media houses, including the HuffPo.
The following meme, albeit tongue-in-cheek about the current public broadcaster situation, sums up the current ‘instant culture’ perfectly:
It’s a true sign of the times, as FT Magazine states anyone can (and does) publish their opinions and views in the online space today, and Statista adds that most of us have access to a camera-equipped cell phone, meaning we’re always connected, wherever we go. Hello, revolution. This change in accessibility has led to an ‘immediate immediacy’ of news. The rise of chat messaging, social networks and mobile work group alerts also means we’re no longer blissfully unaware of major global catastrophe until we turn on the TV or radio, and don’t simply work when we’re ‘at our desks’, leading many digital journalists to rethink the existing news cycle.
Gone are the days of working ‘to deadline’ that’s a few hours or even days away – we need to publish the news as it happens – to be first, but also to be accurate.
It’s this accuracy factor that’s the most problematic. If you can’t hop on a plane to report live from the scene, can you really trust a source you’ve found on social media? Someone who seems to be live-tweeting the action on the ground, but doesn’t actually have journalistic training?
The First Draft Coalition, which launched in June last year for the express purpose of assisting reporters faced with possible ‘breaking news’ scenarios unfolding on their screens in ensuring those eyewitness media reports are credible. It has released a free guide to this end, intended for journalists, with steps to take to verify photos and videos sourced online before you publish them as ‘breaking news’ at will. They’re based on common-sense and those basic journalistic principles of ‘who, where, when and why’ that should be deeply embedded in all you do.
Tips include running a reverse image search on Google to see if that ‘miraculous photo’ has appeared elsewhere, as well as a date search of the photo’s social time stamp to check it’s not a repeat offender and checking the social media account in question has been active for a while and not suspiciously set up just a few days ago to coincide with the event it’s supposedly giving exclusive insight into.
Click here to download your copy – it even comes with instructions on how to fold up the pocket-sized version. You should also join the ‘Professional Journalists Association of South Africa’ public group on Facebook for local journalistic news, tips and tricks – crucial as the lines of credible journalism become ever murkier.
