The South African National Editors Forum (Sanef) has called on news and media outlets to ensure clear policies are in place to help guide the manner in which employees use social media platforms.
This after eNCA News Chief, Kanthan Pillay, was dismissed this week from the television news channel.
Pillay had earlier tweeted, calling former eNCA political reporter Samkele Maseko a rat – and labelling the SABC a sinking ship.
Pillay has since apologised and deleted the tweet.
SANEF Executive Director, Kate Skinner, says social media etiquette needs to be properly established for those in news or media outlets.
“It has become a very difficult and tricky area. What we need is for the newsroom to have social media policies in place that make it absolutely crystal clear if you are tweeting. Can you tweet in your personal capacity or is it seen in a professional capacity even though you may claim the account is personal? Those kinds of policies are not in place and even if they are, people aren’t fully aware of what are the details of those policies.”
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