Blog Post #3: Journalism Ethics for Bloggers

While journalism ethics are defined by professionalism, separation of news and opinion and the verification of reports and new sources, bloggers often fail to follow these rules.

Instead, what works in the world of blogging and social media is immediacy, anonymity and sharing of the news, often without giving credit to the original news source. In the world of journalism, this kind of writing and reporting would never pass.

Old school journalism ethics are more respected at publications such as the The New York Post and The Atlantic. So how do bloggers and social media users use ethics to ensure that their writing is authoritative? Here is what they should do:

1. Be accurate

In the world of Google and countless other research tools, inaccuracy is inexcusable. Make sure all statements in a blog post are accurate and the information can be verified or linked to. Before you hit publish, verify all facts stated and link to the original sources of information quoted.

2. Provide context 

Don't oversimplify your blog post. To keep things more simple for your readers, provide links or resources within the post so that they can educate themselves further about the topic at hand.

3. Keep posts up to date

When you provide a source of information that readers know is kept up to date with the latest developments in a specific field, it immediately becomes authoritative and the go-to source for information on that topic.

4. Have a clear understanding of anonymity

When quoting from anonymous sources, it's difficult to distinguish whether certain information is true or false. It's common for journalists to use pseudonyms to protect victims of violent crimes. In the online world, the issue of anonymity is still a hot topic among journalists and writers alike. As a publisher, one needs to decide if your blog is going to allow anonymous sources of information or not. If one does decide to allow them, take into account that these sources are very hard to verify, so it's wise to have rules and safeguards in place to avoid any legal issues.