A New York Times reporter and Penn State alumnus based in London who previously spent two years in Hong Kong will discuss the power of social media to improve reporting and participate in a question-and-answer session Feb. 10 as part of the Journalism Speakers Forum, which features weekly speakers during the spring semester at Penn State.
Daniel Victor earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Penn State in 2006. He has worked for the Times since 2012, starting as social media editor. His session will begin at 7 p.m. Feb. 10 on Zoom.
Before joining the Times, Victor worked for ProPublica, the Philadelphia Inquirer and The Patriot-News. In his current role, he’s responsible for a wide variety of stories, including international breaking news, U.S. politics, the coronavirus, digital culture and the occasional strange animal tale.
Victor helped to pioneer the use of social media, especially Twitter, as a reporting tool while working for the legendary Washington, D.C., news site TBD.com. Social media is the strongest tool ever created for giving voice to underrepresented people, making it essential for journalists to participate in and monitor. However, if journalists are not careful, social media also has the potential to corrupt our understanding of the world and exact a toll on mental health.
Victor will discuss how to use social media in a way that improves reporting and does not drive journalists crazy or lead to inaccuracies.
The series of special guest presentations was coordinated by Will Yurman, the Norman Eberly Professor of Practice in Journalism in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications. Yurman serves as host for the weekly discussions. Videos of previous visitors for the forum may be found online.