Abstract

This chapter looks into journalists who rely primarily on social media to report international news in hard-to-reach countries like Iran, Syria, and North Korea. While social media-based, remote-controlled reporting is often associated with cheap journalism, it can also deliver high-quality journalism with accuracy and depth. Specifically, this chapter focuses on two ethical issues emerging out of journalistic verification via social media: hierarchies and risks for journalists. It finds that colonial hierarchies are being replaced with flatter and more horizontal relationships. With regard to risk, digital verification decreases physical harm but raises new issues of trauma. This chapter proposes the recognition of ethical tradeoffs and offers examples of best practices.