“The next tweet could get you fired!” – or promoted?

Svenja Ottovordemgentschenfelde is a Fellow at Tow Center for Digital Journalism and a PhD candidate in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE Many news organizations have introduced internal guidelines or policies for journalists using social platforms such as Twitter (for example, see BBC News’ social media guidance here). While these have become commonplace in newsrooms, variation remains, both in journalists’ awareness of their existence, and in their content and institutional enforcement. I spoke to 26 political journalists, who work for some of the most influential legacy media organizations in the country, both in print and broadcasting. I wanted to know about the influences that shape and drive their Twitter use, as well as the benefits they get from engaging with the platform and its users.¹