248. Name: Motasem Abu Dari Title: Television Newsrooms Verification of Information Flowing from Social Media Sources Prior to Broadcasting: Al Jazeera as a Case Study Institution: Middle East University Country: Jordan Date: 2018 Language: Arabic Abstract: This study discusses the dilemma that journalists face in TV newsrooms while dealing with data flowing from social media sources and the challenges of verifying them. The study employed a survey method, using a questionnaire that was filled by approximately 100 of Aljazeera’s journalists and producers. The findings showed that social media imposed themselves on conventional newsrooms as a source of news and images. At the same time, they remain an untrustworthy source, which causes problems for professional journalists. The study also indicated that journalists consider social medial indispensable, but there must be verification mechanisms to deal safely with their content. The study confirmed that media outlets, including Aljazeera, committed mistakes as a result of using social media contents, but Aljazeera has taken the necessary measures and set a number of verification mechanisms including the establishment of a verification department integrated in the newsroom. Aljazeera also started training its journalists about the new verification system, which resulted in reducing the number of mistakes considerably. The study provides details on the verification steps used by Al Jazeera and hopes that journalists benefit from them.
474
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter