Journalists on online social networks: How technology is challenging journalism ethics

The technological developments of recent decades, in which new platforms such as online social networks emerged, brought journalists new ethical challenges in their professional role. Faced with a radical changes in the process of production and consumption of information, journalists and media companies were forced to be where their audience is: on online social networks. This strategy is not free of risks. The growing proximity between the journalists and audience and the permanente exhibition that follows this approach, leads to ethical risks and new deontological challenges for the journalists. In order to examine how the Portuguese journalists use online social networks and identify the key ethical and moral risks of their actions online, we conducted, in 2014, a pioneer national survey of 300 professionals in 76 national news organizations. The conducted research shows that the use of online social networks is an established practice among Portuguese journalists that combine, in these platforms, a personal and a professional use - either expressing opinions or sharing others opinions on public interest matters - with prejudice to professional ethics.