The New York Times wants to shield its journalists from online harassment by encouraging them to minimize their time on Twitter, according to a newly circulated memo.
Dean Baquet, the executive editor of the Gray Lady, told his employees that maintaining a Twitter account is “purely optional” after newsroom staffers reportedly raised concerns over being targeted by internet trolls.
As any Twitter user knows, there are lots of reasons to not be on Twitter. The Times’ argument seems to reduce down to a few points:
Twitter takes up too much of journalists’ time.
It warps their reporting by changing who they see as their audience and the feedback they get on their work.
It’s a major driver of harassment and abuse.
Bad tweets are a significant reputational threat to the Times and its staffers.
The report goes on to say it is clear that a change is needed and notes three new policies which will be enacted at the media outlet. Firstly, Twitter and other social media is now “purely optional” for journalists and those who choose to stay on the various platforms are encouraged to “meaningfully reduce” the time spent on them. Secondly, there is a new Times initiative to support journalists experiencing online harassment.
The new policy was panned by former Times staffer Taylor Lorenz, the social media beat reporter who moved on to the Washington Post after a high-profile departure from the Gray Lady.
Lorenz, who told MSNBC she contemplated suicide after being harassed and bullied on social media, said Times editors “consistently buy into bad faith attacks online and punish their journalists when they’re subject to … smear campaigns.”
“This is not an attack on Twitter,” Baquet said. “Twitter has tremendous value. We have readers there, we have people we want to hear. I thought it became outsized in its influence. I thought that some journalists were, you know, looking to Twitter for validation of their coverage. And I think that gave Twitter more power than, frankly, it deserved.”
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