Washington Post columnist on why reporters should use Twitter

Rob Pegoraro from the Washington Post brings us this post on why Twitter can be a good thing for reporters. A couple of highlights, first, on the benefit readers get from a reporter’s Twitter feed:

To me, it’s first about making the conversation with readers more efficient. If one reader asks you a question about an article — where’d this fact come from? what about this angle? have you checked out this related story? — in e-mail, only that reader will gain any insight from your reply. But if you share an answer in public — on a blog, in a comment on a blog, in a Web forum or Web chat, on Twitter, or any other place that will be indexed by the Web search engines — other readers can benefit from your answer.

Next, on the risk of reporter-induced damage to the news outlet:

Sure, there’s a risk of self-induced damage to our credibility from an ill-thought-out update. But let’s not act like that risk only exists when we log onto Facebook or Twitter: When anybody and everybody has a cameraphone that can record and share a clip of your out-of-office banter, we all run that risk every time we step out the door. (Plus, our e-mails to readers can be forwarded at will.) At a certain point, we can only trust readers to recognize us as sentient human beings that do think about the things we cover. We, in turn, need to remember that this business provides the luxury of a job description so simple and easily followed that it only runs three words: Tell the truth.

It’s not easy to admit that reporters should be human beings, but social media is quickly making the newsroom and its processes transparent to the public. In most cases, that’s a good thing because it let’s the audience see how we come to know things. What do you think?

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