How can you tell who's a verified journalist on Twitter now?

A running joke between folks who work in the media has been that the only people on Twitter are journalists with "blue checkmarks" talking to one another. Of course, millions of people who aren't journalists do use it everyday.

That once bonafide method of authenticating journalists on the platform changed this week as the "blue checkmark" was made available to anyone willing to pay $8 a month for the company's "Twitter Blue" premium service.

Refining "verification" is one of the first priorities of new Twitter owner Elon Musk, who also fired roughly half of Twitter's staff last Friday and is pledging to make significant changes to the social media platform.

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In the new world, as of now, anyone willing to pay $8 a month can get a blue checkmark, without any form of identity verification. This has already led to impersonation (something Elon Musk states he is against) and confusion, especially right after an election.

At first, Twitter tried to distinguish legacy verified persons over paid verified with an additional gray "Official" mark underneath their name, which was swiftly removed later in the day. Now, to determine if a person was verified under the legacy rules or paid, they have to go to their profile and click on the checkmark and see one of two options: denoting if they were verified as part of the legacy process or if they paid for the subscription to "Twitter Blue."

This is an example of an organization (us) who was authentically verified under the legacy process.

And this is an example of someone (or an organization) that "paid" for verification.

Naturally, journalists and media organizations are concerned with these recent changes and more importantly, want to make sure that people know how to distinguish authentic news sources on Twitter vs. inauthentic sources.

With that, we wanted to share the authentic Twitter accounts of FOX 5 DC's reporters, anchors and contributors. Their Twitter accounts are linked to their biographical pages here on fox5dc.com (and may have other social media platforms they use as well including Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok).

Melanie Alnwick - @fox5melanie

Claire Anderson - @ClaireFOX5DC

Katie Barlow - @katieleebarlow

Bob Barnard - @barnardfox5dc

Tucker Barnes - @tuckerfox5

Nana-Sentuo Bonsu - @NSBonsu_

Matthew Cappucci - @MatthewCappucci

Steve Chenevey - @stevechenevey

Joe Clair - @joeclair

Erin Como - @erinfox5dc

Jennifer Delgado - @jendelgadofox

Rob Desir - @rob_desir

Tom Fitzgerald - @fitzfox5dc

Sierra Fox - @thesierrafox

Angie Goff - @ohmygoff

David Kaplan - @dkaplanfox5dc

Ayesha Khan - @ayeshakhannews

Tisha Lewis - @tishalewis

Jim Lokay - @lokayfox5

Marina Marraco - @marinamarraco

Wisdom Martin - @wisdomfox5

Jacqueline Matter - @jmatter_tv

Kevin McCarthy - @kevinmccarthyTV

Marissa Mitchell - @marissamfox5

Holly Morris - @hollylivefox5dc

Sue Palka - @suepalkafox5dc

Shirin Rajaee - @shirinrajaee

Stephanie Ramirez - @ramirezreports

Jeannette Reyes - @fox5dcjeannette

Josh Rosenthal - @joshrosenthaltv

Caitlin Roth - @caitlinrothfox5

Mike Thomas - @miketfox5

Gwen Tolbart - @gwenfox5dc

Maureen Umeh - @maureenumehfox5

We're also including some folks who are contributors or other employees of FOX 5 DC that don't have a biographical page.

Kyle Carmean - @fox5kyle

John Colucci - @johncolucci

Ashley Darby - @_ashleydarby

Paul McGonagle - @pmcgonagle

Patrick Paolini Jr. - @patrickgmfox5dc

Producer Haylee - @hayleerademann

Producer Chris - @chris_fox5dc

Producer Corey - @producercorey

Chad Ricardo - @realchadricardo

Elissa Salamy - @elissa_salamy

Also, it's worth remembering that on any social media platform or way you get your news, it's important to "consider the source" and "consider the context" as our own David Kaplan often reminds us.