police tape
Credit: By Provisions on Flickr. Some rights reserved.

Washington-based radio journalist Neal Augenstein, who works for WTOP, recently got into a bit of a Twitter spat over a photo posted by a television producer relating to an alleged armed hostage situation.


Sharing a photo of the situation as it was ongoing was "dangerous to those involved," said Augenstein, and could reveal potentially risky location information.


A few days later he wrote a post on what to do and what not to do when live-tweeting standoff situations on his blog, #iphonereporting.

Augenstein's advice for responsible reporting focuses on hostage situations but would also apply to any large-scale emergency incident where an element of foul play is suspected, such as bomb scares.

Bottom line?

"Consider the ramifications before hitting tweet."
Tags: Click tag to find related articles; click icon for feed

Free daily newsletter

If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).

Related articles