I’d like to have a discussion with you about how we use our social media accounts. This is in the interest of building a better community with strong communicative avenues for those who enjoy what we do here. For starters, WDEL is a journalistic institution. WDEL News is made up of a newsroom staff of human beings. We are, each and every one of us, dedicated to this state and all of the communitie
s of which it is made up. We make a dedicated effort to provide quality news, we strive for perfection (and yes, admittedly, occasionally miss that mark), and we love the impact we can have on our surrounding communities—communities we all love. But we are equal parts opinion, with a staff of personalities who, everyday, provide opinion on subject matter from the region, nationally, and internationally. Opinion, at least on air, is just as important a part of what WDEL is, even if the two sides rarely co-mingle. WDEL’s news reporting is always straight-forward. The news portion is unbiased, thorough, and factual. There is no opinion in those places regarding the news, though you will find opinions from WDEL talk radio personalities on their own individual blog pages and radio shows. Our social media accounts *are* a place for engagement. They are decidedly *not* the opinions of WDEL as a whole, of the administration here, or of our advertisers—but social media accounts are not a substitution for WDEL.com, where our news is presented in traditional format. Social media is a place for engagement. Here, we want to stir discussion, we want to present our works in a more informal environment, and we want to interact with our users as the human beings we, in fact, are. We all have opinions about everything we encounter in daily life. The staff is professional, has decades of combined experience under their belts, and are very good at their jobs. They are not the only ones posting to our social media accounts. In addition to reporters sharing their stories, there will occasionally be a post from a personality here with an opinion. The reporters go to great lengths to keep even their personal social media accounts straight-forward and unbiased, but much like the on-air portion of WDEL, our social media accounts are operated by a number of individuals. One thing WDEL recognizes about our posting is transparency. The issue might have previously arisen where readers might have read a post or garnered response from the WDEL account without knowing from whom the words were being written. We will now be absolutely sure that each posting contains some identifying factor so that readers know when a reporter is posting something, or a personality that works here in the office. The former will often be straight-forward information sharing while the latter may additionally include an opinion of some sort once in a while, usually in the interest of sparking a discussion. But much like how WDEL exists each day on-air, the two sides will intermingle once in a while, and so clarity is of the highest priority. As a warning, you may see an opinion here every now and then. You’ll see silly pictures of us or interesting things we see in our day or things we find entertaining or funny from other outlets. We won’t always be serious. And an opinion that is not your own does not make the presenter an enemy. Talking about national and world events, or even asking a question about them, in a way that is different than how you might have worded it, does not make us left, right, racist, or anything else. It simply means we see something in a way that is different than you might see it, and are seeking interaction, and want you to be as open with us as we are being with you. Absolutely respond, absolutely shout your opinions from the rooftops, absolutely do so with passion and conviction—but do so with civility. Do not name-call here, do not attack others personally for opinions with which you do not agree; we all, as residents of the First State, are better than that. And we are all working towards the same goal. We all want to help create a better Delaware, and that is what we strive to accomplish. Earlier today (Tuesday), some comments from a post went missing. They were deleted by staff with the well-meaning intention that their removal would bring a derailed, angry, aggressive conversation back on-topic. For that, I, personally, apologize. It is at my direction that things like this develop and I should have been much clearer about what WDEL should do internally when a conversation takes a turn we hope to not often see on our page. We are a news organization. First Amendment rights keep us employed, and we won’t be deleting comments without clarification. However, hate speech is unwelcome here. We choose not to permit hate speech on our page on the grounds that it would not serve to better our community. You absolutely have the right to use any language you want—you just won’t do it here. We will additionally curate certain language as we have some civic-minded youngsters who keep up with their community news here. If you have any questions about any of the information presented here, about WDEL on social media in general, or just want a place to spew hate or swearwords, please feel free to email me directly at [email protected]. Sincerely,
DJ McAneny
