Streets to screens: conflict, social media and the news

In November 2014, the conference ‘Streets to Screens: Mediating conflict through digital networks’ brought together Malachy Browne, news editor at Storyful, Liam Stack, reporter at The New York Times, and Mohammed Ziyadah, social media editor at BBC Arabic to discuss the ways in which social media content is shaping conflict coverage today. With the proliferation of networked digital devices, the zone of conflict is now more visible than ever before. Eyewitnesses, activists, armed-groups and governments are producing content every day in order to organise, document and communicate events happening on the ground to audiences both near and far. This surge of online voices creates new opportunities and challenges for news media. This discussion explores journalists' everyday practices working with social media, from following events from around the world, to locating sources and amplifying stories. It provides insights into the relationship between journalists and those producing content from within conflict zones, the difficulties of navigating the political agendas of different groups, and the importance of bringing these voices into the news.