Online Ethics - Do the Same Rules Apply? Online editions are changing so swiftly that journalists’ attention frequently focuses on issues such as mastering technological tools or learning new writing styles or meeting constant deadlines. Ethical standards deserve attention, too. Do readers on the web deserve or demand the same standards of accuracy, independence and propriety as print readers? Or does online journalism need different standards? Do these standards apply only to journalists contributing to the web site? Or do they apply to readers, too? What about “citizen journalists”? If some kind of standard applies to citizen journalists, then who qualifies? As your online edition grows in importance, news staffs need to decide what your standards are and how to apply them. Consider the arguments both ways. On the one hand, some might argue that you apply the same standards to your online edition because it’s still your brand and your credibility. If you publish information online that is unreliable, that can tarnish the reputation of your print products, too. On the other hand, the medium is different. Interactivity and immediacy are important online, and editing and verification are time-consuming. An error in your print edition remains unchallenged for 24 hours, for all your readers to see. You can fix online errors right away, limiting their exposure. Weigh the various considerations and make the decision that is right for your staff and your readers. Accuracy, verification, attribution and deadlines Discuss – off deadline – your newsroom’s standards on breaking news. You want to get the news online as quickly as possible, but in the opening minutes or hours of covering a breaking story, you are still sorting fact from rumor. You know something happened, but you’re not sure yet what. Some guidelines that might help:
Blogging Blogging has proliferated on newspaper web sites more rapidly than the industry has been able to consider and develop standards. You need to decide what goes and what doesn’t for your site and your staff. Part of the appeal of blogging is the rough, interactive, gritty nature of the material. But is a staffer’s blog still part of the content of your publication? Should it undergo the same sort of editing as other content? Some definitions of blogs say they are unedited. Should blog updates go online right away, to be timely, with an editor reading and making corrections? Do you allow reporters to express opinions in blogs that wouldn’t be acceptable in stories? What about comments from readers? Does someone edit them for taste, accuracy, libel, grammar or any other standards before they go online? Or do you post them immediately and read them afterward and remove those that are objectionable? Many newspaper sites host blogs by people in the community, too? Do they face the same standards as staff members? If not, how do their standards vary and why? What about staff members with personal blogs on other sites or with personal web pages or entries on sites such as MySpace? Do you have any rules for them and what they may or may not write? Are they not allowed to discuss matters they cover in private blogs? Are public statements of political or religious opinions allowed or forbidden? Reader-generated content One of the important ways that newspapers are connecting with readers online is by welcoming and seeking reader-generated content. This presents opportunities to use your web site for partisan, promotional or commercial purposes. Consider how you want to guard against this or to disclose contributors’ interests to your readers. Is it OK for the spouse of the high-school drama teacher to submit a review of the high school play? Does that relationship need to be disclosed? You may not cover the meetings of the Kiwanis Club with your staff, but welcome online accounts of the meeting submitted by the president or secretary. Does that require any sort of disclosure or disclaimer? Political interest groups routinely send out mass-produced letters to the editor that editorial pages can screen out pretty easily. If you let readers post to your web site, is this sort of plagiarism acceptable? Do violators get banned? Is it enough to post a disclaimer that you don’t vet reader contributions the same way that you vet content provided by journalists? Online chats Online chats happen in real time. If you sponsor online chats with staff members, community leaders or guest columnists, the immediate interactivity of the process makes editing impossible. You can still set standards for your staff members. Are they allowed to express opinions? If so, do you limit their opinions? For instance, can they comment about policies or actions, but not about people? Can they express views on the actions of political candidates but not endorse the candidates? Can they comment on stories that you haven’t published yet? Can they comment on rumors or tips they are checking out? You want to have these discussions and set these standards before the staff members are online, fielding questions from the public and answering off the cuff. Consider explaining your standards In some ways, your online standards are not as important as your readers’ understanding of them. If you distinguish between journalism and community interaction in your standards, you should tell your readers. Tell them how to tell when something on your web site is journalism and what that means in terms of verification, independence, etc. Tell them how to tell when you are publishing spontaneous interaction among members of the community who may have vested interests or who may pass along rumor, speculation or wishful thinking as readily as they do fact. Perhaps your editor should write a blog explaining to readers that any news story with a byline is expected to be fully verified by the reporter and read skeptically by an editor but blogs, chats and forums are freewheeling community discussion. Does the transparency justify varying standards? Does the nature of the medium require varying standards?
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