Karen Schneider’s article, The Ethical Blogger, in Library Journal, is on one of my favorite topics—ethics. She makes the point that having a bias is fine—it is your blog afterall—but you should make it clear somewhere on your Web log site what those biases are. For me, the one thing that bothers me most in a Web log is for the author to hide their identity. I support those who believe that bloggers, whose intention is to blog as a journalist, should have an ‘about’ page. If it is a personal type of Web log, then hide if you like.
Schneider wrote, “While you’re at it, try to convey the idea that we really did go to grad school for our library degrees, and if you need to, become reacquainted with Mr. Comma, Ms. Apostrophe, and Dr. Capitalization. Trust me, they are your friends.” Though I agree with Ms. Schneider that this is a worthy endeavor, typos and misspellings don’t bother me, as I am a poor speller. I have heard this same caution about grammar echoed on a number of Web logs, and I have come to the conclusion that a lot of bloggers are probably English and literature majors. They do tend to get caught up in grammatical perfectionism. I was a philosophy major. Ideas are more important to me. Grammar and spelling are important, but mostly because incorrect use will change the nuance or meaning of what I have written.
Schneider uses the article to make another point: “Every blog produced by librarians, no matter how casual, represents librarianship to the world. We are the standard-bearers for accurate, unbiased information.” We need to remind ourselves about this, but I think this could also be stifling. I think it is better, if you have something to say, or are posting from a conference, to just get it out there. Go back and fix the typos later. Fact checking takes a lot of time, so if you are uncertain, just be sure you tell your readers that you are uncertain. Even then, you may misinform, as I have done when I have scanned something too quickly and carelessly. Be ready to correct it, which I have had to do several times on this blog. Sigh.
Others on ethics
Bill Mitchell and Bob Steele of the Poynter Institute [See also Poynter Online - Ethics] wrote “Earn your own trust, roll your own ethics: Transparency and Beyond” for the Blogging, Journalism & Credibility Conference that was held at Harvard University on January 21-22, 2005. It is available as a PDF at Commissioned Papers: final version. From the summary, “This paper explores the ethical implications of blogging. Our central premise: the act of publishing almost always holds consequences for stakeholders beyond the writer. Our major question: what are the writer’s obligations to those stakeholders?”
Walt Crawford commented in Cites & Insights 5:3 - Republishing and Blogging, “Treat others the way you’d wish them to treat you.”
Martin, a Ph.D. student, who blogs at Blog Ethics Analysis 2004 says that he will be posting a revised PDF version of his research on ethics in the blogsphere. He talks about the differences in the reasons for Web logs—Some bloggers are trying to be journalists, but that is not neccesarily the real function of a particular blog. Discussing the Code of Blogging Ethics (COBE), he wrote on March 27, 2005, “Dube and Blood base their codes largely on values associated with the journalistic function of blogs.” Others are not trying to be journalists, so he has posted a revised COBE on his revised view of Web logs: “I have come to consider interactivity and the struggle to build human relationships and communities in blogging environments to be core, form-related duties in blogging.”
J.D. Lasica asks, “The latest issue thrust before the tribunal of blog opinion: What are the rules when commercial entities offer payments or freebies to get bloggers to write about them?” in The cost of ethics: Influence peddling in the blogosphere.
