A college newspaper in Massachusetts was criticized for using information taken from a Facebook page in a story on the death of a student. More and more journalists are finding social networking sites like Facebook can be a resource. Remember the pictures of the Elliot Spitzer escort? Many were taken from her MySpace page. Ellyn Angelotti of the Poynter Institute suggests social networking site users understand that their profiles can be broadcast publicly. After all, they can opt to make them private or at least restrict access. But she also says journalists must continue to follow ethical guidelines.
So what do you think? What's fair game on Facebook and MySpace? How are you using social networking sites as a resource or journalistic tool?
3 comments:
I have used Facebook to find sources for stories in the past if I'm looking for an MSU student with a particular interest. But I would never just use information off someones site and assume it to be true without actually talking to the person.
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