More on Digital Doorstepping

Adam Tinworth
Adam Tinworth

The Media Guardian had a look at the Digital Doorstepping issue on Monday. (I’m reliably informed that doorstepping is the act of going house to house in serach of reaction, doorstopping is where you’re getting to the point of physically stopping somebody shutting the door.) The article is, unsurprisingly, somewhat ambivalent about the whole issue.

However, a comment Jackie left on Antony’s blog highlighted just how insensitive and intrusive it can be:

What’s chilling is how journos are staking out Facebook and starting ‘tribute’ groups to victims as soon as something like this happens. I saw this firsthand when English teacher Lindsay Hawker was murdered in Japan a few weeks ago: I was invited to one of those groups, joined, and was suddenly inundated with journo requests from Closer magazine and others, who thought I was a friend of the girl’s and wanted a tell-all interview for their own ‘tasteful tributes’. You can imagine my response to the journalists.

Yes, I can.

doorsteppingJournalismJournalistsThe Guardian

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Adam is a digital journalism lecturer, trainer and writer. He's been a blogger for over 20 years, a journalist for 30 and teaches audience strategy and engagement at City St George’s, London.

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