Social Media and Journalism

In a world where the first person to see and write about a breaking news event is a random individual with a smart phone, instead of a seasoned reporter in the field, what role does social media play in contemporary journalism? This and many more questions were addressed for the first time in the Irish context by a survey on social journalism undertaken by the Insight Centre for Data Analytics at NUI Galway.

The comprehensive report: Social Journalism Survey: First National Survey on Irish Journalists’ Use of Social Media (2014) compiled from data from hundreds of professional journalists working in Ireland.

Irish journalists still rely on traditional methods to verify stories, according to the first nationwide survey of news reporting in the digital age. While the vast majority of journalists in Ireland use social media for sourcing news leads and content, and verifying information, the majority still believe that without external verification the information cannot be trusted.

Overall, the survey found that 99 per cent of Irish journalists use social media, with half of those using it daily. While most journalists believe that using social media makes them more engaged with their audience and with other journalists, over half state that they believe social media is undermining traditional journalistic values.

Very few journalists were found to use specialist tools to validate information, instead relying on the practice of contacting individuals directly.