Everyone needs a reminder in ethical behavior once in a while. Last night, a blogging friend gave me a reminder when I needed one. The following are some tips for blogging ethics borrowed from Rob at Unspace, who in turn borrowed them from Cyberjournalist.net.
Be Honest and FairBloggers should be honest and fair in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.
Bloggers should:
- Never plagiarize.
- Identify and link to sources whenever feasible. The public is entitled to as much information as possible on sources’ reliability.
- Make certain that Weblog entries, quotations, headlines, photos and all other content do not misrepresent. They should not oversimplify or highlight incidents out of context.
- Never distort the content of photos without disclosing what has been changed. Image enhancement is only acceptable for for technical clarity. Label montages and photo illustrations.
- Never publish information they know is inaccurate — and if publishing questionable information, make it clear it’s in doubt.
- Distinguish between advocacy, commentary and factual information. Even advocacy writing and commentary should not misrepresent fact or context.
- Distinguish factual information and commentary from advertising and shun hybrids that blur the lines between the two.
Minimize Harm
Ethical bloggers treat sources and subjects as human beings deserving of respect.
Bloggers should:
- Show compassion for those who may be affected adversely by Weblog content. Use special sensitivity when dealing with children and inexperienced sources or subjects.
- Be sensitive when seeking or using interviews or photographs of those affected by tragedy or grief.
- Recognize that gathering and reporting information may cause harm or discomfort. Pursuit of information is not a license for arrogance.
- Recognize that private people have a greater right to control information about themselves than do public officials and others who seek power, influence or attention. Only an overriding public need can justify intrusion into anyone’s privacy.
- Show good taste. Avoid pandering to lurid curiosity.
- Be cautious about identifying juvenile suspects, victims of sex crimes and criminal suspects before the formal filing of charges.
Be Accountable
Bloggers should:
- Admit mistakes and correct them promptly.
- Explain each Weblog’s mission and invite dialogue with the public over its content and the bloggers’ conduct.
- Disclose conflicts of interest, affiliations, activities and personal agendas.
- Deny favored treatment to advertisers and special interests and resist their pressure to influence content. When exceptions are made, disclose them fully to readers.
- Be wary of sources offering information for favors. When accepting such information, disclose the favors.
- Expose unethical practices of other bloggers.
- Abide by the same high standards to which they hold others.
Note by Rob:
This is a preliminary draft that others have come up with. I believe this is an excellent start, and will try to at least live up to this code, if not go beyond. I am human, I make mistakes, and I often find myself in strange situations. Should I accidentally fail to follow these rules, I hope that someone will point out my error to me, so that I can learn, apologize, and correct where possible. If I find that following this code conflicts with a higher moral imperative, I will first try to seek council from others. If I find that I must still violate one of these codes, I will tell my readers what I am doing and why.
Amen.
Words cannot adequately express how absolutely flabbergasted by this I am. That's never stopped me from trying, though, so here goes.
“Back in the day, when my wardrobe consisted almost exclusively of tie-dye and I had my hair long and walked around with a peace symbol necklace around my neck (this was, oddly enough, not more than a decade or so ago), I was friends with a kid named Eric Williams. Eric was a year older than me, was a classic rock fan like me, and he was so pale that when he stood in the sunlight, you got kind of sonogram picture of his heart beating through his chest. Seriously. I think we met in gym class during that first week of school when the gym teachers sat everyone down on the bleachers and paced back and forth, sizing up who was going to be a good gym student, who would be kind of a whiny weakling, and who would just generally not buy into the fact that gym was an integral part of their academic studies. Eric and me…we were in that last group. Or so I remember.”
“Anyway, years passed and as happens, I lost touch with Eric. I dated his sister Katie for a good chunk of my senior year of high school, became friends with her, then became sort of not friends with her, then became really good friends with her, and now have the honor of calling her daughter my niece. It’s been kind of a saga is what I’m getting at, here. The last time I saw Eric was at Katie’s wedding, and he had grown considerably from this skinny little pale kid into a not so terribly skinny or pale adult (Katie did this, too…round about her twenties she gained the ability to tan…I think the melatonin gene must just be a late bloomer in this family) who can dance like…well, like I will never be able to dance in my life. Anyway, he and I didn’t get to chat much, but I was impressed with him nonetheless.”