Strictly professional – what’s public and what’s private for journalists on Twitter?

Over on the BBC dot.life blog Rory Cellan-Jones debates the pros and cons of Twitter – where does the professional cross with the personal? What’s public and what’s private on the web?

Cellan-Jones, the BBC’s technology correspondent, had a recent wake-up call when PR contacts tracked his Twitters. A light-hearted blog by Cellan-Jones on the topic of Scrabulous led to an equally light-hearted message to a Twitter follower, which was then quoted on another website in a more serious manner.

In the latest posting he writes, ‘It’s a ‘a useful reminder that Twitter – like so many other online forums – is a public place, and what you say there may be used in evidence against you.’ He thinks that perhaps he ‘can no longer afford to be quite so careless.’

Needless to say, Journalism.co.uk is now keenly following Cellan-Jones’ tweets. Follow us too: @journalismnews, strictly professionally of course…

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Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk: Get your case studies from social networks

Case studies: Online forums and groups on social networking sites can be a goldmine. Make contact individually or send out a group message depending on the sensitivity of the request and be polite – these are like members clubs. Tipster: Laura Oliver

Got a tip? Submit it here – we will pay a fiver for the best ones published.

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Death of Chinese ‘citizen journalist’ sparks online outrage

A Chinese man, who used his mobile phone to film a confrontation between the authorities and protesting villagers in the country’s central Hubei province, was beaten to death by city officials, according to a report by CNN on Friday.

The death of Wei Wenhua, a 41-year-old construction company executive, has been widely condemned across online forums and news sites in China, the article states.

“Wei is the first ‘citizen journalist’ to die in China because of what he was trying to film,” a statement from press freedom campaign group Reporters Without Borders said.

“He was beaten to death for doing something which is becoming more and more common and which was a way to expose law-enforcement officers who keep on overstepping their limits.”

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