Facebook and the boundaries of professional journalism

Abstract

Facebook has disrupted journalism, attacking its business model by monopolizing the attention of audiences, while also leading journalists to be dependent upon the social network for sourcing and distribution. Mitigating the challenges of this disruption requires a reassessment of the ethical norms governing the relationship among Facebook, journalists, and audience members. In this essay, we argue that an ethical framework that puts moral primacy on furthering a duty to democracy is the best means to conceive cohesively of the relationship among these actors. Furthermore, we argue that this duty is incumbent upon each member of this relationship in its own unique way. Our framework starts by conceiving of Facebook as a media company with moral duties rather than a purportedly neutral "tech company". Doing so will reveal Facebook's outsize role in democracy, pressuring it to fulfill a concomitant duty to ensure the sustained health of a democracy built on digital public discourse. From there, we call on journalists to focus efforts on Facebook toward community building and audience engagement. Lastly, we call on Facebook users to share the responsibility of maintaining the quality of both discourse and journalism on the platform.