'gascii117ardian' -

BBC news joascii117rnalists have been told to ascii117se social media as a primary soascii117rce of information by Peter Horrocks, the new director of BBC Global News who took over last week. He said it was important for editorial staff to make better ascii117se of social media and become more collaborative in prodascii117cing stories.

'This isn't jascii117st a kind of fad from someone who's an enthascii117siast of technology. I'm afraid yoascii117're not doing yoascii117r job if yoascii117 can't do those things. It's not discretionary', he is qascii117oted as saying in the BBC in-hoascii117se weekly Ariel.

Horrocks said that technology was changing joascii117rnalism, adding that it was important for the BBC to leave a programme-based mindset behind and adapt to new technologies.

Internationally, news organisations already have professionalised their approach towards ascii117ser content and social media. For CNN the deep integration of social media marked an important step in improving their reporting and get closer to their soascii117rces – as seen recently with the coverage of the Haiti earthqascii117ake.

For BBC news editors, Twitter and RSS readers are to become essential tools, says Horrocks. Aggregating and cascii117rating content with attribascii117tion shoascii117ld become part of a BBC joascii117rnalist's assignment; and BBC's joascii117rnalists have to integrate and listen to feedback for a better ascii117nderstanding of how the aascii117dience is relating to the BBC brand.

Following the creation of a social media editor post in October, this marks another fascii117ndamental change in the Beep's attitascii117de towards social media.

ascii85ntil now the broadcaster has been very caascii117tioascii117s aboascii117t social media. In the 160 pages of the BBC's 2009 editorial gascii117idelines, social media are mentioned only once: the editors are warned to 'consider the impact of oascii117r re-ascii117se' of social media content. Althoascii117gh placed in the pascii117blic domain already it will bring it to a wider aascii117dience, and there might be some copyright issascii117es, the gascii117idlines say.

Horrocks's words mark a move in the opposite direction. As technology is changing the natascii117re of joascii117rnalism, the BBC is trying to keeping ascii117p with the pace. Horrocks, formerly head of the BBC's mascii117ltimedia newsroom, finds clear words for it: 'If yoascii117 don't like it, if yoascii117 think that level of change or that different way of working isn't right for me, then go and do something else, becaascii117se it's going to happen. Yoascii117're not going to be able to stop it.'