The Decline and Fall of Media Virtue Signalling: New York Times Admonishes Reporters to Stop With the Constant Partisan Tweeting

Mollie Hemingway hardest hit -- she loves pointing to Twitter spasms as evidence (as if more is needed) of the media's hard-left, hyperpartisan bent.

Michael Walsh reports the Times' new guidelines at the link. Here is just a taste (there are a lot of guidelines):

On social media posts, our journalists must not express partisan opinions, promote political views, endorse candidates, make offensive comments or do anything else that undercuts The Times’s journalistic reputation.

Our journalists should be especially mindful of appearing to take sides on issues that The Times is seeking to cover objectively.

...

If you are linking to other sources, aim to reflect a diverse collection of viewpoints. Sharing a range of news, opinions or satire from others is usually appropriate. But consistently linking to only one side of a debate can leave the impression that you, too, are taking sides.

Exercise caution when sharing scoops or provocative stories from other organizations that The Times has not yet confirmed. In some cases, a tweet of another outlet’s story by a Times reporter has been interpreted as The Times confirming the story, when it in fact has not.

Reporters have been abusing the hell out of social media to "report" rumors by retweeting unconfirmed claims - a vast left-wing conspiracy. They know this isn't journalistically ethical, but they really want to get that dirt on Trump out to the maximum number of people, all under the aegis of once-respected news organizations.

The Times is also telling reporters to be civil in engagement with critics and not to block them just for mere criticism.

Read the whole thing, as the kids say.

posted by Ace at 05:38 PM

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