The credibility of social media in journalism

Social media is part of the journalistic routines in all mass media. News company-managers develop actions and strategies to include the uses of social media in the professional field. Nevertheless, in spite of their professional penetration, the level of trust that journalists have in these platforms is low compared to traditional mass media. The main objective of this paper is to find out how Spanish journalists are using social media. The hypothesis is that social media doesn't hold enough trust amongst journalists, despite the fact that they use social media to look for information and to contact sources. An online survey, conducted among more than 400 Spanish journalists (newspaper, television, radio, internet and freelancers), showed that social media is used by most Spanish journalists but their trust in these new social channels is lower than in traditional mass media.

社交媒体已成为各类大众传媒新闻采编日常工作的固有组成部分。新闻机构管理层制定相关行动方案与发展策略，将社交媒体的应用纳入新闻行业的专业实践范畴。尽管社交媒体已在新闻行业实现深度渗透，但相较于传统大众传媒，新闻从业者对这类平台的信任度仍处于较低水平。本研究的核心目标在于厘清西班牙新闻从业者对社交媒体的使用情况。本研究提出的假设为：即便新闻从业者会借助社交媒体获取信息、联络消息源，他们对社交媒体的整体信任程度仍未达应有水平。本次研究面向400余名西班牙新闻从业者（涵盖报纸、电视、广播、网络媒体从业者及自由撰稿人）开展线上问卷调查，结果显示：多数西班牙新闻从业者都会使用社交媒体，但他们对这类新型社交渠道的信任度仍低于传统大众传媒。