Sister blog WebNewser was on the scene at the Time & Life building to hear former Fishbowler and current Mediaite editor Rachel Sklar, New York Times social media editor Jennifer Preston, and EW.com managing editor Cyndi Stivers talk about the role of social media editors in newsgathering organizations, on a panel moderated by Time Inc. director of community strategy for lifestyle digital Melissa Parrish.

Some choice insights from the panel included learning what your audience wants to read on your Twitter stream. Said Sklar:

“For Mediaite, it was different because we were a scrappy little start-up financed by Dan Abrams and whoever his private investors are, with a very small team — four of us. As soon as we launched, I became the unofficial PR Newsfeed of Mediaite.

I don’t have much of a filter in terms of the stuff I post.

I was responding to every single negative comment on my personal Twitter, and I started getting emails from people saying, ‘Whoa, you’ve got to back off a little bit.’”

Stivers agreed that news judgment is sometimes necessary:

“I think a lot of times people do forget about the user experience or think about it as an afterthought: Would I be annoyed if I had to click to another page and it was only three lines? Would I feel duped? Would I feel misrepresented?”

And Preston’s insight into how social media is used at the Times was very revealing:

“As journalists for The New York Times, trust is key. You have to make sure you’re providing as much real-time information as you can, but you have to verify it.

You do not join the Cindy McCain or Michelle Obama fan club on Facebook.

We’re not allowed to say “tweet” yet at The New York Times, but you can post to Twitter through TimesPeople.”

Read more: Social Media Editors On The Role Of Social Media Editors –WebNewser

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