The Ministry of Health and Welfare on June 2 posted a graphic on its Facebook account that mistakenly showed 11,366,748 cumulative confirmed COVID-19 cases instead of 2,198,161. Although it was quickly replaced, people who had downloaded the false image shared it on social media.
This error should be reviewed, as it is a matter of public interest and undermined the credibility of public health information.
Social media editors at government agencies should long ago have been given publication guidelines to address issues that go beyond minor glitches, such as posting incorrect graphics.
On June 10, the Washington Post dismissed Felicia Sonmez, a reporter covering the White House, the US Congress and elections. In 2018, it had barred Sonmez from reporting on the nomination hearing of US Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was accused of sexual assault, on the grounds of conflict of interest.
Sonmez said this was because she had come forward as a victim of sexual abuse, but her employer said she had advocated for sexual abuse victims, which might cause her to be biased when reporting on the case.
Soon after basketball star Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash in 2020, Sonmez posted a link on Twitter to a report about a 2016 incident in which Bryant was accused of rape.
The Washington Post’s editors said Sonmez had shown a lack of judgement that undermined the work of her colleagues, and placed her on administrative leave, but soon reinstated her.
Last year, the newspaper allowed Sonmez to cover stories concerning sexual assault, but she went on criticizing her employer on Twitter.
Sonmez sued the Washington Post and several of its editors for discrimination, but her suit was dismissed in March.
Should news media workers’ behavior on social media be regulated, and if so, what should be regulated and how? It is probably common for social media editors to make mistakes and for their employers to be blamed.
Nine years ago, I translated The Associated Press’ (AP) Social Media Guidelines for AP Employees, which made waves because a reporter at the media outlet I was working for posted something on Facebook that deceived the public and affected the credibility of my employer.
The Sonmez case also has to do with the different perceptions of media organizations and their employees about the boundaries and clashes between their social media activities and their jobs.
Nine years ago, when there were relatively few social media platforms, everyone was vying to get more followers on Facebook.
Social media have become increasingly segmented, covering everything from text and graphics to video and audio, while journalists have gained more experience in using such platforms.
The situation today is very different. Kelly McBride, senior vice president of US nonprofit journalism organization the Poynter Institute, said that news media should review their social media policies by following four steps: explain why such policies are necessary; decide how social media strategies should develop; define the boundaries of the policies; and create a committee to regularly review and update them, and deal with major social media incidents. Before implementing their policies, media outlets should listen to employee feedback, and address their legal and personnel concerns.
Social media policies must be drawn up in consultation with media workers, otherwise they would be impossible to implement. Journalists should not think that just because they are media workers, the things they say on social media would not affect their employers.
Chang Yueh-han holds a doctorate in journalism and communications from Shih Hsin University.
Translated by Julian Clegg
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