Social media in journalistic inquiry - Requirements for a search system incorporating journalistic quality criteria

Abstract

Social media allow journalists to incorporate additional information into their journalistic inquiry. However, journalists often cannot be certain of the quality of information from social media. IS research has yet to sufficiently address this issue. Most notably, there is no information system that supports searching for social media content about a specific topic while considering journalistic quality criteria. This paper presents the results of a design science project, focusing on an extensive literature analysis and on an interview study that was conducted to outline the requirements of this information system. The empirical analysis indicates that, in particular, the actuality, independence and credibility of the sources are relevant quality criteria for the use of social media for journalistic inquiry. The paper concludes with a presentation of the study’s limitations and an outlook of further steps in the development of the system.