Facebook: Where Reporters Seek the Dearly Departed

It was early September and I was sitting in a BCIT classroom as my first MDIA 1045 class (Intro to Social Media) was getting started. My instructor, Kemp Edmonds, asked which one of us students used social media at work. At most, a couple of people raised their hands, with the rest of us keeping our hands planted on our desks.

To be honest, I should have raised my hand that night because I do use social media at work, but I was embarrassed to admit it. So here I am...coming clean.

While I don’t frequently use social media at work to network or keep in touch with professional contacts (not yet, at least), I do use Facebook quite often to do something that is probably unique to my industry...look for dead people.

Here's how:

1) I search for R.I.P and “In memory of” tribute pages of people who have died and made it to the news. It doesn’t matter if it’s a gangster who got shot or a teen involved in a tragic incident, if the victim is under 30-years old there’s a good chance he or she will have a tribute page made for them. Take for example the story of Tyler Clementi's suicide. Clementi is a Rutgers University freshman who authorities say committed suicide after his dorm roomate exposed his homosexuality by tweeting about it. It's also alleged the roomated had invited people to watch a secret webcam feed of a sexual encounter Clementi had with a male student.
Though my station didn't cover this story, my reporter instincts led me to search whether a Facebook tribute page was made for Clementi. Not surprisingly, one was made, and it contains condolences from friends and members of the Gay and Lesbian community. As well, there were several photos of a young man who probably never asked to be in the headlines.

2) As I alluded in the previous point, Facebook is a treasure trove for photos. It doesn’t matter if the person is dead or alive; you’re likely going to have at least one photo of yourself if you are on Facebook. In the olden days of about 5-years ago, if I needed a photo of someone who had just passed away, I needed to land an interview with a grieving loved one and then ask for a photo. If I needed a photo of a gangster…well forget about it!

3) If I wanted to find out more about a person who has passed away and report on how his loved ones want him remembered, I have a variety of heartfelt comments I can quote from a tribute page’s wall. Nothing of course is more genuine, touching and powerful than hearing and seeing someone on radio or TV. But sometimes people shy away from the media in times of tragedy, which is perfectly understandable. With the pervasiveness of Facebook, journalists now have another source if they cannot land that in-person interview.

4) I not only use Facebook to supplement my work, I also cover stories about how people use it. In the past month alone there have been two high profile stories in BC involving Facebook. The first is the story of a Pitt Meadows rave party where it's alleged pictures of a gang rape involving a teenage girl were spread on Facebook. The second is the sabotaging of Laura Szendrei's Facebook tribute page. The 15-year old Szendrei was beaten to death in broad daylight in Delta, BC.

Both are terrible stories, but let’s face it, they're examples of how social media has become the communication tool of choice for teenageers. The gossipy whispers that used to echo through school hallways have been replaced by Facebook posts and tweets.

So, has this been good for reporting or not? It depends how you look at it...here's a couple of pros and cons that come to mind.

Pro: There’s no faster and easier way to get a photo of an ordinary Joe who suddenly finds himself in the headlines. Where else am I going to find a picture of a gang banger in the comfort of my home or office?

Con: Reporters can potentially get carried away with quoting what's on someone's tribute page and forget to do any actual interiviews.

Pro: I can now send people a message on Facebook or even Twitter asking for an interview. No longer do I have to awkwardly stumble through a cold call saying to a grieving mother, “I know it’s a bad time, but I’d like to give you a chance to tell your son’s story and how you want him remembered.” Trust me, making that call is not easy no matter how many times you’ve done it.

Con: I can now send people a message on Facebook or even Twitter asking for an interview. Let me explain this. In the absence of someone’s phone number, I think it’s perfectly okay to contact someone through Facebook. But if you have the potential interviewee’s number, it’s always better to call in person. I once saw a reporter write on the wall of a Facebook tribute page, “I am sorry for your loss. Please call me if you knew the victim as I’d like to interview you for a news story.” That post was probably written with good intentions but it came across as detached, cold and callous.

At the end of the day, Facebook has been a great tool for journalism. Social media has given the media another avenue to search for information and sources. In my opinion it will continue to become an integral tool in my line of work...especially if people continue to honour the dead on Facebook.