Saturday, October 29, 2005
Internet Ethics, Blogs, Google, Yahoo!, MSN, And You
Notes and issues we have covered. Developing a successful blog for your business. What needs to be covered are the responsibilities of ethical news reporting.Internet Search Engine Bombing Spam
So, when reporting a story online, it is best to follow the guidelines for ethical news reporting.
The following is from the Society of Professional Journalists - Code of Ethics
Seek Truth and Report It
Journalists should be honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.
Journalists should:
- Test the accuracy of information from all sources and exercise care to avoid inadvertent error. Deliberate distortion is never permissible.
- Diligently seek out subjects of news stories to give them the opportunity to respond to allegations of wrongdoing.
- Identify sources whenever feasible. The public is entitled to as much information as possible on sources' reliability.
- Always question sources' motives before promising anonymity. Clarify conditions attached to any promise made in exchange for information. Keep promises.
- Make certain that headlines, news teases and promotional material, photos, video, audio, graphics, sound bites and quotations do not misrepresent. They should not oversimplify or highlight incidents out of context.
- Never distort the content of news photos or video. Image enhancement for technical clarity is always permissible. Label montages and photo illustrations.
- Avoid misleading re-enactments or staged news events. If re-enactment is necessary to tell a story, label it.
- Avoid undercover or other surreptitious methods of gathering information except when traditional open methods will not yield information vital to the public. Use of such methods should be explained as part of the story
- Never plagiarize.
- Tell the story of the diversity and magnitude of the human experience boldly, even when it is unpopular to do so.
- Examine their own cultural values and avoid imposing those values on others.
- Avoid stereotyping by race, gender, age, religion, ethnicity, geography, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance or social status.
- Support the open exchange of views, even views they find repugnant.
- Give voice to the voiceless; official and unofficial sources of information can be equally valid.
- Distinguish between advocacy and news reporting. Analysis and commentary should be labeled and not misrepresent fact or context.
- Distinguish news from advertising and shun hybrids that blur the lines between the two.
- Recognize a special obligation to ensure that the public's business is conducted in the open and that government records are open to inspection.
Following these guidelines and reviewing the Code Of Ethics for journalists for both reader and writer will help establish credibility of stories on the Internet.
Online Credibility Of News Stories
The credibility of stories can be proven with a little detective work online. As a reader, ask yourself if someone may be rumor mill Search Engine bombing online spam. Check out sources. Search the Search Engines for stories that are backed up by facts and not someone's over agressive reporting of conjectures, bowling for links, false advertising of websites, or fictionalized accounts. If a story is truly just editorial content, then the writer should clearly state that upfront and not try to mislead. Headlines can and do mislead. So, be careful of what you report online.
Additonal Ethics Information for online media reporting can be found at: Radio-Television News Directors Association, Ethics - Guidelines For Balancing Business Pressures And Journalism Values. Another excellent source for everyone from CyberJournalist.net - A Bloggers' Code of Ethics.
Professional Web Services takes an ethical business approach to Internet marketing Online advertising and Web branding. Email us and visit our E Concepts E Business Marketing for other tools, ideas, and solutions for your business today. Copyright Professional Web Services, Inc.
Labels: Internet, Search_Engines
posted by James A. Warholic @ 4:55 PM
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