Shifting Borderlines in the Practice of Verification: Some Social Media Lessons from India

Abstract

Verification is an exclusive jurisdiction of the professional journalist as far as traditional news practice is concerned. However, with the popularity and prominence of newsworthy user generated content on social media, verifying them is becoming a daunting task for journalists. Very many instances of seemingly genuine user generated content tricking veteran news organisations show that accurately describing the reality is no more a straight line game as it used to be, before the emergence of social media. Moreover, the practice of verification, at times, is taken over by vigilant social media users even after stories gathered through traditional methods get published. The jurisdictional conflict arises when social media users, who are outside the authority to carry out verification as per traditional journalistic norms, doubt and question and sometimes expose verification pitfalls from professional journalists. By examining some instances from regional and national Indian press, the paper argues that the idea of verification and its jurisdiction is being challenged as social media is reshaping the news landscape.