Professional Speaker Assignment: Brian Stelter

A New York Times journalist said social media is empowering people in today’s world to interact with the government in ways never seen before.

Brian Stelter, 28, told BYU students that sites such as Facebook and Twitter are allowing the public to be involved in politics more than in the past during his lecture Wednesday in Provo, Utah. He said social media makes a “round-the-clock press conference” possible.  Leaders can easily deliver messages to the public and vice versa. “Governments are supposed to represent us,” Stelter said. “By responding to us through social media, elected officials have a much stronger connection to their audience.”

A leader can now relate to the public by means of a simple YouTube video. An example of this is President Barack Obama’s clip released in August to introduce the nation to his family’s new puppy.  Stelter called this a “powerful” method used by the president to connect with his constituents. And this connection goes two ways. Stelter said social media is raw material for politicians to keep informed on public opinion and what is happening on a global scale.

Stelter also voiced his concerns about social media.  In his opinion, it could be “narrowing people’s views” because they only see what certain individuals are posting. By relying on the opinions of friends with similar interests, a person may end up getting only one side of a story.

Despite these reservations, Stelter remained optimistic about the future of social media and communications. He emphasized that social media is a “compliment” for reporting. It certainly has been useful for Stelter, who admitted to meeting his girlfriend on Twitter.