The New York Times is updating its policies on how its reporters use Twitter and emphasizing that use of the social media platform is optional given the dangers of online harassment.
In a memo to employees Thursday shared with The Hill, Dean Baquet, the paper’s editor-in-chief, announced what he called a “reset in our approach,” issuing new guidelines dictating that “maintaining a presence on Twitter and social media is now simply optional for Times reporters.”
Baquet wrote that he has heard from staff about the “challenges that Twitter presents,” writing that employees at a major national newspaper can often “rely heavily on Twitter as a reporting and feedback tool.”
Such a reactionBaquet wrote, it can be harmful to Times journalism when “our uses become echo chambers.”
Baquet said it will be purely optional for Times reporters to use Twitter moving forward, and the organization’s leadership will take steps to support anyone who decides to stop using the platform.
“If you decide to stay, we encourage you to significantly reduce how much time you’re spending on the platform, tweeting or scrolling, in relation to other parts of your work,” he wrote.
The Times clarified on Thursday that it has never required its journalists to use Twitter.
Several journalists at various major media companies have shared concerns in recent months about an increase in threats they say they face from readers and the larger online community based on their reporting.
Former Times reporter Taylor Lorenz has been one of the most vocal journalists in the country about the harassment she’s faced while covering Internet culture and the creative economy. Lorenz, who previously worked at The Hill, said she didn’t feel supported by the Times after such online harassment.
“We take these attacks extremely seriously and know how much this abuse affects our colleagues’ well-being, sense of safety and ability to do their jobs. We have a team dedicated to supporting Times journalists and are rolling out new training and tools to help prevent and respond to online abuse.”Baquet said in his note. “This is an industry-wide blight, but we are determined to take action.”
Lorenz said Thursday morning thatBaquet’s words ring true.
“The thing about the NYT is that they constantly buy bad-faith attacks online and punish their reporters when they’re the subject of gamergate-style smear campaigns,” she said in a string of tweets. “Directors are more Twitter-obsessed than most newsrooms, following employees’ every response. Saying they’re going to the police that *more* is counterproductive, harmful to journalists, especially those who must use the Internet to report.”
