The Agony
In light of The Agonist’s plagiarism incident, some are mulling the creation of some sort of ethical guide to blogging. Obviously, the comparisons to journalism and its code of ethics (like you’d know they had one) will come about. I think there is most definitely a distinct difference between blogging and journalism. At my site for example, I don’t really report much in the way of news. I opine. This is an op-ed program, so to speak. I also seek to entertain (myself mostly, but some others too).
Now, this may come as a shock, I may not always be right. But if I state something that is a fact, I link to the source of the fact (if available). As such, I’ll retract some things that I state are facts. I doubt I’ll retract opinions unless I change my mind about an issue.
And I think Instapundit hits on the only real Code of Ethics bloggers would need:
Don’t lie, cheat or steal, or tolerate those who do.
Link to the source except in extraordinary cases.
I might add:
Keep debate civil and be nice to other folks.
But your mom should’ve taught you that.
Update: I touched on this in comments, but I have to admit to a certain level of frustration. I attempt to write stuff that is somewhat entertaining and (I think) of decent quality. Yet, I’m a very small fish in the astronomically huge blogpond. And there are thousands of bloggers out there who write quality stuff and no one has ever heard of them. Yet, a prominent blogger essentially masters the ability to cut and paste and his traffic jumps exponentially. Plus, the fallout of this scandal has likely lead to an increase in his traffic. The blogosphere is a harsh mistress on the little guys.
I’m done crying now, as you were.
