Forces at the Gate

Abstract

This nationwide survey of news directors at network affiliate television stations explores the impact social media is having on editorial and production decisions related to newscasts. The results show popular, or trending, content and topics on social media are a significant factor in choosing stories to cover. The research examines how these stories are treated in newscasts versus those gathered through more traditional sources. The study also reveals that the reliance on social media content has increased the chances that newsrooms will spread misinformation. A third of respondents indicated their stations have reported information from social media that was later found to be false or inaccurate. Despite this, policy has not caught up with practice. One of the more striking findings of this study is, of those newsrooms that have social media policies, nearly 40% said the policy does not include procedures for verifying social media content before it is included in a newscast.