Mobile and Social Media Journalism: A Practical Guide for Multimedia Journalism, 2nd edition, by Anthony Adornato, Routledge, 2022. ISBN: 9780367460969
Author Anthony Adornato presents an overview of how social media has changed journalism. The book’s strengths are its use of current events as examples, its incorporation of quotes and interviews from reporters, and its warnings about the potential dangers of social media as a source.
Chapter 8 (Social Media Ethics and Policies) and chapter 9 (The Spread of Fake News) are Mobile and Social's most useful sections. Chapter 8 uses recent events to illustrate abstract concepts. Its only drawback, especially considering the book's price, is that rather than presenting new material, it refers readers to old ethical guidelines that are widely available for free. For example, Adornato describes ethical violations news organizations committed while reporting on the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and his daughter, then points readers to the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics. He doesn't offer guidance for how to interpret or apply a Code written for a much earlier era. Chapter 9 covers challenges reporters face by having an online presence for their professional role and personal life; the two often overlap despite efforts to keep them separate. Unfortunately, chapter 9's title seems misleading. It contains sparse content on spin, bias, or the ways politics and profits influence news coverage.
Despite the book’s strengths and accessible format, it’s too lightweight for a college journalism course or for developing college students’ critical thinking, information literacy, or narrative analysis skills. Most of the content covers topics students already understand regardless of their familiarity with journalism. For example, early chapters explain that most people, especially 18-25-year-olds, get news from social media rather than traditional organizations like the New York Times. They also explain that the biggest change in journalism is its shift from one-way communication, where gatekeeping organizations told readers what happened, to two-way communication, where readers break stories, respond to coverage online, and serve as sources. All of this is evident to college students from their everyday life experience; it doesn't need to be spelled out in a textbook.
Mobile and Social's warnings about the risks of using social media for tips, leads, or sources are well-intended but vague. They would be more helpful if they included a detailed examination of how reporters vet tips and verify sources in the digital age. Ultimately, this book seems more appropriate for middle school than college. I don't plan to use it in any of my courses.