Excellence in Journalistic Use of Social Media Through the Eyes of Social Media Editors David A. Craig & Mohammad Yousuf Gaylord College, University of Oklahoma

Purpose & Contribution Purpose is to explore what constitutes excellence in journalistic use of social media. The study contributes to the understanding of excellence and ethical challenges in social media at a time when best practices are not a settled matter.

Reviewed Areas of Literature Meaning of Excellence in Journalism Role of Social Media in Journalism Ethical Issues and Challenges in Journalistic Use of Social Media MacIntyre’s Theory of a Practice

Theoretical Framework Alasdair MacIntyre’s theory of a practice explains how standards of excellence in a field advance as the practitioners pursue excellence. According to MacIntyre (2007): A practice is a social venture. Excellence depends on standards rooted in best traditions of a practice. Pursuing excellence leads to distinctive achievements, or internal goods, and reshapes the meaning of excellence. Excellence requires virtues. External goods (e.g. profit or status) threaten the process.

RQ & Method RQ: How do social media editors understand the meaning of excellence in journalistic use of social media? Method: Interviews with social media editors. The authors interviewed seven editors. Interviews of two others were collected from the Internet.

Social media editors interviewed by authors Eric Carvin, AP Chris Hamilton, BBC Matthew Keys, Reuters Craig Kanalley, The Huffington Post Lauren McCullough, breakingnews.com Meghan Peters, Mashable Daniel Victor, The New York Times

Journalists interviewed by others Liz Heron, The Wall Street Journal Andy Carvin, NPR

Findings 5 elements of excellence: Adherence to traditional accuracy standards with recognition of a new environment Sophistication in verification practices Sophistication in engagement Tailoring use of social platforms Adding value by being human (in use of tools and in transparency)

Traditional accuracy standards recognizing new environment Commitment to accuracy and verification Varying levels of comfort with “process journalism” (Jarvis) Daniel Victor, New York Times: Showing the "sausage making" of journalism is sometimes valuable, sometimes not.

Sophistication in verification practices Multifaceted set of practices Use journalistic judgment – e.g., evaluating Twitter accounts, history, retweets Combine with technological tools – "forensic side" (Hamilton of BBC)

Sophistication in engagement Beyond engagement for its own sake. Building communities by connecting in a way that is valuable to the community. Drawing users into the reporting process. Long-term commitment. Kanalley, The Huffington Post: "It's over a long period of time that you build up a community and you build up engagement."

Tailoring use of platforms Consider their strengths and their audiences Facebook for conversation, people's stories and voices Twitter for updating, curating, listening Monitor development of the audiences and capabilities of new platforms

Adding value by being human Human choices that make the most of platforms' capabilities – e.g., "hashtag science" on Twitter (Heron of Wall Street Journal) Transparency from individual journalists to admit mistakes and provide a "looking glass" into what they do (Keys of Reuters)

Discussion Study provides insight into how journalism as a practice (MacIntyre) may be developing as journalists integrate social media into their work. Development of verification and engagement approaches expands capacity for story development and conversation. Pursuing the five elements of excellence identified can advance "internal goods" such as inquiry and fostering of community.