Ithaca College

Anthony Adornato, assistant professor of journalism, presented his research paper, Evolving Journalistic Guidelines: A Survey of Social Media Policies in US Television Newsrooms, at the Association of Educators in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) conference in San Francisco.

His paper focuses on how the use of social media by journalists raises new ethical and professional dilemmas. As a result, news outlets are implementing policies addressing what is and what is not permitted on social media platforms.

Through a nationwide survey of local television news directors, Adornato's study examines the prevalence of social media policies in TV newsrooms, the source of those policies, and how they are implemented. This study also investigates if and how the policies address emerging matters related to five specific areas: personal and professional social media activity of reporters, social media sourcing and content, audience complaints on social media, use of social media while reporting in the field, and ownership of social media accounts.