France based one of the premier news agency of the world, Reuters has released its social media policy, which included strict instructions to journalists to refraining from disclosing news online and to “scoop the wire” by breaking news and stories on Twitter.

As it is clear earlier too that disaster related news are shown on Twitter first but now on Reuters journalists would have to break their stories first on wire rather than approaching on Twitter. In this social media policy Twitter, Facebook and other online entities have come under preview for instructions with respect to breaking news.

Now on Reuters journalists are requested to have manager approval earlier before using Twitter for professional reasons and are advised to double check their tweets before posting. And have been asked to do personal and professional activities separately on different accounts. Reuters, as a media organization that encouraged its employees to use social media but after looking behavior of its staff rather advised that misuse of these tools can threat our hard earned reputation for independence and freedom from bias or our brand. A journalist that follows sources on Twitter or friends them on Facebook risks sharing those identities with the competition.

However, this is interesting to note that how other news agencies will adopt to the development taken by Reuter.