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Guidelines For Personal Activity Online: The Issue
Guidelines For Personal Activity Online: The Issue
Report of the Ethics Advisory Committee of The Canadian Association of Journalists February 4, 2011 PANEL MEMBERS | TIM CURRIE, CHAIR; BERT BRUSER, ELLEN VAN WAGENINGEN The Ethics Committee of the CAJ asked its Social Media Panel to propose guidelines for personal activity online. To study this issue, the panel looked at social media policies at major news organizations, the opinions of leading commentators and working reporters.
THE ISSUE
If youre a reporter over 35, an employer likely told you not to post campaign signs on your lawn, attend public rallies or sport bumper stickers. The advice was meant to portray you and your employer as independent and without bias. Reporters are expected to set aside their biases in order to report fairly and impartially. But the perception of impartiality can be difficult to maintain as we use more social media in our personal and professional lives. Bumper stickers and rallies now take the form of Foursquare participation badges and Facebook allegiances. The Internet captures our participation in groups, advocacy of causes and connections to people. Consider the following scenarios: