Margaret Romao Toigo
In his article in the February 2 edition of The Christian Science Monitor, correspondent Randy Dotinga asks the question, "Are bloggers journalists? Do they deserve press protections?"
Well, are we? Do we? Does the First Amendment apply to us bloggers as "the press," or are we merely citizens exercising our freedom of speech and expression? Are we commentators, analysts, and pundits or just opinionated rebels, gadflies, and malcontents possessed of cyber-soapboxes? Are we indeed journalists, or just another manifestation of the "entertainment masquerading as news" trend?
These ethical and legal questions are not simply fodder for academic speculation and discussion. On January 4, 2005, Apple Computer filed a lawsuit against unnamed individuals who revealed inside information about forthcoming Mac products. Also named in the suit was the Mac enthusiasts' site, Think Secret, which helped to publish articles written by a 19-year-old blogger who leaked information about new products weeks before Apple unveiled them to the public. The suit, filed in the Superior Court of Santa Clara County, California, seeks to identify who is leaking information and to get an injunction preventing further release of trade secrets. Apple claims that the information posted on Think Secret could only have been obtained by someone who had signed a confidentiality agreement and that Think Secret induced those individuals to breach their confidentiality agreements.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Margaret Romao Toigo
Okay, what happened to my sidebar?
Actually, I think I know. Moveable Type has been set up to strip certain HTML tags (and there are very good reasons for implementing such security measures), like the "align" attribute of the table tag, right?
Oh, well, I suppose that anyone who reads this article can simply imagine that the gray box was intended as a sidebar which was supposed to appear to the right with the mainbar text floating around it.
No worries. I just don't wish to be flamed for a perceived lack of HTML skills, is all.
2 - Eric Olsen
M, your coding is far too complex for me - I've asked Phillip to try to sort it out
3 - Temple Stark
You could link to Yensid's post along the same lines - and mine. i haven't got time to weigh in here in the way that I do.
But ... Does the First Amendment apply to us bloggers as "the press," or are we merely citizens exercising our freedom of speech and expression?
People forget that the laws for the press and the citizens in regard to access as well as libel / slander are usually the same.
4 - Temple Stark
by the way - thank you for the post.
5 - NancyGail
USA Today had an article discussing the "ethics" of bloggers. Are we journalists? To a point. We research Amazon for items to recommend along with our posts, and work on finding sources to back up our writing. We give honest opinions without asking anyone else to agree. We put time into our efforts; in some cases, a boatload. We even have deadlines.
6 - Eric Olsen
yes, thanks, and I agree with your conclusion: yes, bloggers should take the same care we expect from any journalist with regard to fact, and yes it is unethical to take money to promote or demote any agenda without revealing that fact. It is imperative to retain a wall between editorial and advertising in any medium
7 - Temple Stark
Are you just talking about Blogcritics Nancy?
8 - Eric Olsen
I believe Nancy was simply using Blogcritics as a synecdoche for blogging in general, although I would like to think our standards are higher than most
9 - Temple Stark
>> I would like to think our standards are higher than most
Well that's what I was alluding to.
Waiting for a call.
10 - Phillip Winn
Actually, the site CSS overrides any align attributes, which are deprecated and really shouldn't be used anyway.
Instead, I converted your table to a 'div' with a class of 'rsidebar', which results in the formatting you see now. A class called 'lsidebar' is also available.
We now return you to your regularly-scheduled on-topic comments. :-)
11 - Aaman
Keep your blog fresh - it's better for your readers.
My align right on images seems to work fine
12 - Eric Olsen
re content, I find a mixture of quick and up to the minute along with extended and thoughtful is the ideal way to go
13 - Diet Doc
Margaret Toigo writes:
"...aren't we also obliged to verify our facts before posting our blog articles and to publish corrections or retractions if we later learn that we were wrong?"
Reply: Absolutely! I enjoyed your article and appreciate the references. I would hope anyone - save those BLOGing in the privacy of their own home (wink wink) and not in the public domain - would remember there are readers out here that are searching for real information. Thanks for the clarity of your work.
Cheers,
Ron
14 - Margaret Romao Toigo
Eric Olsen wrote: "M, your coding is far too complex for me - I've asked Phillip to try to sort it out"
Please pass along my humble and appreciative thanks to Phillip, for making my sidebar into a sidebar once again.
NancyGail wrote:"Are we journalists? To a point. We research Amazon for items to recommend along with our posts, and work on finding sources to back up our writing. We give honest opinions without asking anyone else to agree. We put time into our efforts; in some cases, a boatload. We even have deadlines."
I have noted that the bloggers here at Blogcritics tend to subscribe to higher standards than many of the bloggers I have run across in my travels around the blogosphere. There are some real journalists here -- and not just to a point -- even if some of them might be earning their living in another field.
Unfortunately, this is not true of many of those bloggers who seem to be more engaged in the practice of venting their spleens (sometimes over a bit of misinformation that could have been easily refuted with one visit to Google) than they are in finding the truth and reporting it as they see it.
Sure, many blogs are editorial in their nature and there is a lot of leeway in how commentaries are properly written, but if the opinions offered are not based upon some verifiable facts, then they are nothing more than personal rants, not journalism of any sort.
There is a lot of entertainment which pretends to be journalism. Although this trend it is not by any means limited to the blogosphere, many bloggers appear to be influenced by its attention-getting impact.
One of the most troubling examples is that of commentators and other "personalities" who humorously (depending upon one's taste) offer us convenient scapegoats -- liberals, neoconservatives, homosexuals, Christian fundamentalists, etc. -- to blame for our troubles and those in the world.
When such material is clearly presented as entertainment, then people can see it for what it is, but when it masquerades as journalism, it serves only to distract us from closer examination of those troubles.
15 - Eric Olsen
very cogent and intelligently put Margaret, thanks
16 - Margaret Romao Toigo
Phillip Winn wrote:"Actually, the site CSS overrides any align attributes, which are deprecated and really shouldn't be used anyway."
Yes, I know, I am lazy sometimes. Since I am now aware that there are css classes of 'rsidebar' and 'lsidebar' available here, I will use the div tag with them in the future.
Diet Doc wrote:"...remember there are readers out here that are searching for real information."
Indeed, they are -- and so are we. I try to verify facts with a minimum of two sources because there is so much misinformation and disinformation (not to mention the spin which accompanies it) out there that relying upon a single source feels imprudent.
17 - DrPat
Just as with different features in a newspaper or different segments of a TV news program, bloggers defy classification into any one group.
We have informed, seasoned opinions (editorials) vs. ranters ([sic]-laden letters to the editor); responsible news presenters and commenters vs. rumor-mongerers; daily issues vs. weekly screeds and "whenever there's something worth the ink" newsletters.
We even have weekly or twice-weekly reviews vs. the daily sharp focus on music, books, film, popular culture, politics and technology found here on BlogCritics.
So just as Dave Barry's syndicated column doesn't discredit Paul J. Lim, a finance reporter for the New York TImes (even when their pieces appear in the same paper), pointing at a vast unwashed mass of not-quite-journalist bloggers does not tar all of those who do deserve the journalism title.
18 - Margaret Romao Toigo
DrPat wrote:"...pointing at a vast unwashed mass of not-quite-journalist bloggers does not tar all of those who do deserve the journalism title."
I don't see it that way, and you don't see it that way, but perception being reality, that is what is at stake here.
Those of us who aspire to a higher standard of journalism could eventually be tarred by the reputation of that vast unwashed mass. Or worse yet, we could end up lending some of our credibility to them.
My intention is not so much to criticize those bloggers whose journalistic ethics and skills are somewhat in question as it is encourage bloggers who feel a true obligation to the truth to continue in their efforts to maintain a high standard.
19 - Temple A. Stark
DrPat, So how did the terms "the media" and "MSM" come to be and why are they used so much? It is shorthand for discounting everything. And one bad seed does sprout cracks in the path toward truth
How many bloggers were there - and I can think of about five right now - who said 60 Minutes' unprofessionalism signaled the "downfall of mainstream media."
Or that the "the media's" poor investigative skills prior to the Iraq War led to a public duped? and "the media" should be ashamed of itself.
It does tar.
20 - Eric Olsen
all of this is very important, but I also think it all comes out in the wash. You dont' have to read someone very long to know where they fit on the ladder to journalistic nirvana.
21 - DrPat
perception being reality...
Nope, Margaret. Reality is reality, although I will grant that perception is a large part of what we're discussing here.
When I read the business pages of my local Times-affiliated newspaper, I don't base agreement or action on a Paul Lim article about mutual funds on whether every other word published in the paper is worth attention, let alone whether it is well-written or correctly researched.
I use my own experience of Mr. Lim's writings, supplemented with my own knowledge of what he writes about.
Same thing with much of what I read online - it is my good fortune that I was taught to read critically and think about what I perceive. (Thanks, Dad!)
22 - Margaret Romao Toigo
Well, of course reality is reality, DrPat. But our individual realities are based upon how we perceive the world around us.
Take a look at what you wrote, "When I read the business pages..." and "I use my own experience of ..."
This is the reality you perceive when you read the business pages of your local paper and evaluate Mr. Lim's skills as a journalist. Another reader may have a different perception of what's written in that paper and of Mr. Lim's writings.
Just because there may be many others out there who perceive this reality in the same fashion as you does not make it an objective reality, for reality is rarely objective and almost always subjective.
For example, some people see one reality in Iraq, while others see a completely different picture, all depending upon which reality they perceive. Some people think that President Bush is one of the greatest presidents ever, while others think he is one of the worst. Again, reality is perceived differently even when it is based upon the same basic information. And the people in one camp almost invariably accuse the other camp of being out of touch with reality.
With regard to the reputation of the blogosphere as a whole, there are some people out there who understand that some blogs are better than others because some bloggers have more respect for the truth than others. And some people are going to read one or two bad blogs and perceive that all blogs are like them.
This sort of gossip can spread like cancer, which is how we get tarred by perceived reality and subsequently denied the chance to establish a reputation based upon our own work.
Indeed, it is your good fortune that you were taught to read and think critically, many of us received similar lessons from our parents, teachers and other mentors. The diversity of perceived reality is evident in how we apply our critical thinking skills to reach our various individual conclusions and perceptions of reality.
23 - Temple A. Stark
>>Well, of course reality is reality, DrPat. But our individual realities are based upon how we perceive the world around us.
It's sad that this still needs to be pointed out.
24 - John Cameron Swayze
Isn't it possible that bloggers are more interested in self promotion than the truth?
25 - Margaret Romao Toigo
Because perception is reality, many people believe that reality is objectively what they perceive. And you really cannot point this out to the people who have such strong faith in their own versions of reality.
We are all affected to a certain extent by the natural human weakness of pride, which is often perceived as a strength. It is this pride and the perception of it which causes some people to believe that their reality is objective and that anyone who sees things differently is laboring under the delusion of an alternate, subjective reality.
On another subject, John Cameron Swayze writes: "Isn't it possible that bloggers are more interested in self promotion than the truth?"
That is quite possible, especially when you consider how the blogoshpere has grown in such a short period of time. It is easy to get lost in the shuffle and the temptation to do something to try and stand out from the crowd is great.
Of course, there is nothing inherently wrong in looking for some kind of "hook," but there is always the risk that substance could suffer as a result.
The blogoshphere is at a crossroads right now, either set to steal some of the thunder from the mainstream media (thus becoming a part of it) or to fade into oblivion like so many other fads.
If there are enough of us out here who find our hooks in the application of the basic ethics of journalism, quality writing and editing and thorough research, then that will be our reputation and those bloggers whose standards are somewhat lower will be exposed for what they are.
However, if we are all tarred with brushes such as the idea that bloggers are more interested in self-promotion than in seeking the truth, then most of the blogosphere -- with the exception of the really big well-established names -- could end up going the way of the "dot coms."
We shall see...