Bloomberg Law tells reporters not to gloat about scoops on social media

Bloomberg Law has told its reporters not to gloat about their scoops on social media, reports Erik Wemple of The Washington Post.

Wemple reports, “In a subsequent memo to staff, Antonelli wrote, ‘We want to be sure reporters and editors get consistent guidelines about what to share and how to share it. We have enhanced our policies to add more examples and best practices. To be blunt about it, this is an important reminder that our standards and sourcing policies apply to our behavior on social media as well.’

“The enhanced social media policies strike the Erik Wemple Blog as well articulated and conceived. There’s the standard warning to apply the same editorial standards to social media postings as apply to stories. There’s a special warning about postings regarding controversial articles. And there’s a don’t-file-customer-service-complaints-on-social-media provision. In other words, the sweep of the enhanced policies pretty well aligns with the mainstream media consensus that has gelled over time. That said, this particular bit of guidance struck us as innovative:

When we get a scoop, don’t gloat or appear to gloat about it on social media. It is fine to tout your scoops, but be aware of your tone and words. Be mature. Act like you’ve been in the end zone before. And, don’t criticize our competition on social media.”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.