Poke me, I'm a journalist: The impact of Facebook and Twitter on newsroom routines and cultures at two South African weeklies

Abstract

Despite initial misgivings about the credibility of the information disseminated on social media, mainstream journalists have gradually started to adopt these media as professional tools. This study explores whether the professional use of Facebook and Twitter influences the processes and cultures of news selection and presentation in newspaper newsrooms. According to most of the journalists from Rapport and the Mail & Guardian, the professional use of social media has not significantly altered their processes of news selection and presentation. The researcher, however, came to the conclusion that the journalists are not as immune to social media as they might think.