Should bloggers be held to the same code of ethics as professional journalists?

by Louise Ciccone

Created on: July 22, 2009

Recently, a friend of mine and well known local journalist, has literally been damaged by the writings of a blogger.

Basically the blogger wrote some things about this journalist and the local media and others, picked the information from the bloggers site and made in international news. This blogger cannot be found, tracked and his personal and basic information is hard to find, if it can be found at all. He even uses untraceable email accounts to cover his tracks.

I believe that bloggers should be accountable for their writing and hold the same ethics as professional journalists, if their blogs include comments and information about a certain person, product of piece of news that effects the lives of others.

Local media and other international journalists and writers, posted news based on the bloggers post/s. This is not a problem. What is the problem, is that the stories and articles posted, had no accountability.The blogger who originally posted, could not even provide a simple first name. He cannot provide any information to show he is accountable. He hides behind his blogger name, as many bloggers do. If what the bloggers write is based on professional ethics and behaviors and good journalism then why hide your name? Why hide your whereabouts. Why hide your personal facts and information. If they do not follow a code of ethics then they what they write could be deemed as simple gossip.

Not having personal information available, makes whatever the blogger posts, un trustworthy. If bloggers followed a code of ethics, similar to journalism, then they could not hide behind a fake names and un recoverable email address.

They would have to be accountable for their words and therefor gaining the trust of the readers who read their blogs.

A person's life and journalistic name has been ruined and distorted, making finding journalistic work harder to secure and obtain. I wonder if this blogger and others would blog what they do, if they had to follow a code of ethics. I wonder if bloggers would write what they do, if their name had to be attached to the posts they make.

If bloggers held the same code of ethics as professional journalism (though bias is slowly deteriorating),if anyone wanted to discuss what they wrote with them, they would be able to easily locate them and connect with them.

Bloggers, at the very least, need to show some accountability towards the items they post, by adding a picture or real name and email to contact. Would you ever hire a person or company to do work for you if they least, did not provide a valid contact number and name? Probably not. So why would you believe the posts of a blogger, who seems already worried about the damage his/her words may cause, by not even letting the public know what his/her name is.

If you are going to sell something. Anything. It helps to have a professional contact information, so that you, the consumer and reader, can validate for yourself, whether to believe what has been written by researching the items being sold.

Not everything you hear, see or read is true. If the bloggers stood behind a code of ethics, you would at the very least, be able to find the information posted and determine for yourself if it is based on true, journalistic research and bias.

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