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

by Richard Prudhomme

Created on: September 28, 2009

Professional journalists have a code of ethnics, yet many of their published stories should be taken with a grain of salt, not unlike reading your horoscope. Gone are the days of newspapers informing the reader, the focus is getting the advertising. Bloggers will often cover a story from a different angle than that of main stream media. I've even on more than one occasion found blogs with a more accurate account of events.

A chapter in the Karla Homolka saga that took place here in Joliette, Quebec back in 2005. I covered it as a photographer, it was a real media circus. What was interesting was reading the versions of the articles written about Karla Homolka. Some journalists portrayed her as a victim of her monsterous husbands Paul Bernardo, while other journalists had her down as a very manipulative and calculating person. Journalists are supposed to inform you, but in this case back in 2005, the media either had you seing Karla Homolka as an innocent victim in this tragedy, or the complete opposite as a manipulative person.

Things haven't improved much since then either. While main stream media outlets complain about citizen journalism missing in objectivity, their track record is not much better. Gone are the days of journalists wanting to dig deep into stories, to shed some light on issues.

In the September 2009 issue of the Quebec french news magazine L'Actualite, Marie-Eve Cousineau did an article about Louise Major, the mayoress of Rawdon, Quebec, and her reasonable accommodations program for newly arriving immigrants to the community. Of course no number of newly arrived citizens are giving or any figures discussed in the article. But according to the mayoress it is a very successful program. Louise Major was the only person interviewed in this article. Interestingly enough, this same municipality of about 10,000 citizens has spent some $200,000 in legal fees in the first seven months of 2009, and that doesn't included past fees already paid out. Could this article be a smoke screen, and Marie-Eve Cousineau have been, unknownly used as a pawn to help Louise Major look good for the upcoming November municipal elections, which just happen to get under way in September.

Louise Major's flagship case, is her Cyberintimidation cause, this is the one she loves to boast about, as it has been covered in numerous times in various newspapers. Back in February 6th 2008, the municipality of Rawdon was granted by Mr Justice Guibault in the Joliette Superior

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