You Think Bloggers Would Ever Actually Agree To Follow A Voluntary Code Of Conduct?
from the that's-not-blogging dept
People keep trying to pigeonhole blogs into being some sort of "amateur" press, but that completely misunderstands the medium. Blogs are simply a content management system. It's a way of publishing content easily, and people can (and do!) do anything they want with it. Some bloggers are journalists. Many bloggers aren't. Trying to put any kind of "rules" on it seems particularly pointless, but it doesn't mean some won't try. While at least the UK's Press Complaints Commission director Tim Toulmin admits that government regulation of bloggers doesn't make sense, it's somewhat amusing that he's suggesting a voluntary code that bloggers adhere to, and then if anyone violates the code, the PCC can look into it. That's really no different than government regulation, except that a few powerful bloggers write the regulations rather than government officials. However, again, the problem is that this assumes bloggers are all just like journalists and that they'd all agree to some code -- which is ridiculous. It would be like requiring everyone who uses paper to follow a specific code for what can be written on paper. What blogs allow is open communication from anyone. So if there's a complaint about how a particular blogger covers a particular story, the nice thing is that anyone else can step up and refute the post on their own blog. In other words, the very democratic nature of blog publishing means that it doesn't need any regulation. It's self-regulating by itself: if you have a problem with what someone says, feel free to respond.
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damn, i think i just proved the point of this entry and the ridiculousness of a blog code of conduct.
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Tech + Gov don't won't
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You are forgetting something very important.
So it doesnt matter what is forbbiden or allowed to bloggers , might as well ban it alltogether, i doubt the internet will actually notice.
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Re: You are forgetting something very important.
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There are already standards for writing on paper, letterheadings, formal documentation standards etc. etc. so why not set a standard for blogs... the standard could include hotlinking sources/references and footer notes. something which would benefit automatic readers.
Standards shouldn't be viewed as a threat, more just a way of doing things.
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Re:
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Some Bloggers Want Journalist Rights...
Maybe a new class of bloggers needs to be created: journalistic bloggers. That way, reporters can be blogging news and teenagers can blog about what they are wearing and why it affects their world so much.
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Re: Some Bloggers Want Journalist Rights...
Web / Blog site that has a bit more oversite.
The volume of "articles" would be to high to have any kind of "formal" editorial, but I think that if someone belonged to this sight (or maybe a membership ??) they should be afforded some kind of journalistic status and be included.
I mean if a school newspaper can get access to some things, then that type of group should as well.
Something that has some kind of standards and revocation ability based on conduct and or editorial review.
Just giving some random semi-literate person who can type out an idea journalistic "freedom" is pretty absurd. There are bloggers out there who are knowledable and research their topics, then there are bloggers who just spit out random shit and call it fact.
I would imagine, like most things, that the 80/20 rule applies here as well.
80% = bullshit
20% = people who are responsible.
(not a researched fact, just applying general statistic logic)
Anyway, just my two cents.
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Re: Re: Some Bloggers Want Journalist Rights...
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Re: Some Bloggers Want Journalist Rights...
Journalist bloggers are a joke. Theyre not real bloggers. Theyre journalists with blogs. But your idea is not bad.. let me tweak it a little. Lets make organized journalist bloggers. Self-governed organizations that pool their clout and resources and use it to bludgeon us into taking them seriously as a journalistic force. High-class bloggers' society. This takes advantage of the social and philosophical differences of bloggers while helping insert them into a world with protocols developed before the concept of bloggers existed. Using the existing connections through established journalism concepts is no good--this will result in established journalists who just happen to post blogs, as I said. Not the same thing at all.
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It was a recommended form, a guideline, a cultural 'norm' ... deviate from it and your mileage may vary. How is this even enforceable? Not legally ... through some kind of blog blacklist? A scarlet icon? Bloghaus?
Seems like a waste of a lot of people's time, effort and $ for a niche media that doesn't need it ...
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Blogger's code
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second, if you agree at first, you can withdraw later, and not put up with the BS.
as for bloggers wanting press passes, and the like, if the blog is a "news source" it must follow journalistic procedure (whatever that is) and be all professional like.
what's next? standard website design? every page will look like google, wikipedia, amazon, or some crazy porn site? sure, that'll go over well.
but as i said, it comes down to this. it's voluntary. and besides if it comes up as "mandatory" i'm sure another site will pop up (lol, rofl, lmao) that allows you to do the same thing, just call it something else. because ist's a blog just a mainly txt webpage with a update history link? hell, i can make my own blog, but have it be "a real web page"
just my small ammount of change
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Redacted: Not within guidelines.
No. The mere act of creating rules will incite millions of bloggers to make fun of them, and insinuating that they should be followed will only cause laughter.
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blogging laws?
Journalism doesn't really have anything to do with, well, can I say "oral conversations?" Would we all have to be journalists to talk? No. So why would we have to be journalists or adhere to "journalistic practices" when conversing or commenting on a blog?
Some sites do have rules that state that they don't allow swearing or other non-relevant data passing through and you have to agree to it before you post.
I noticed on this blog that if I don't include my email address that my post is considered spam and so somebody missed out on a "thank you" because I accidentally hit the submit button before I noticed my email address wasn't there... ooops.
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Re: blogging laws?
I just wanted to say this is untrue on two accounts. First, not including an email address does not make it spam. The spam filter looks at many different factors, and the vast majority of commenters do not include an email address and their emails get through just fine.
Second, your assumption that comments flagged as spam never get on the site is wrong. As we've said repeatedly (and as it says when your comment is flagged), someone from Techdirt reviews all the comments caught by the filter and releases the legit ones.
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Re: Re: blogging laws?
You're right, I assumed it was the lack of email address as that's the only thing I did differently, so, if it wasn't that, what raised the flag? Why would two words "Thank you" be flagged as spam?
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Help me.
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Re: Help me.
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Now now
You're right. Blogs are a medium, not a format. But there *are* blogs which address serious issues, set the tone of the debate, and are read by a lot of people (the top blogs in the UK have 100,000+ readers, which is more than most newspapers). Of course they have responsibilities. The trick is to separate them from the ones where people talk about their cat. A voluntary code makes that up to the blogging organisations themselves.
Oh and by the way. Voluntary regulation with PCC enforcement *isn't* government regulation. It's industry self-regulation; if a newspaper disagrees with a PCC ruling, they can simply leave the PCC (this has occasionally happened). It's the fear of actual government regulation that keeps UK newspapers vaguely in line.
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We may not need a code, voluntary or otherwise, but blogging is a public activity, and with that comes long-standing legal implications that don't go away because we're all using a new set of tools.
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WTF?!
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2) While Murdoch's tabloids are pretty awful, the serious broadsheets are better (Times, FT, Telegraph, there is a good comment on British Newspapers in Yes Prime Minister, I can't be bothered to find the page)
3) Standards for code design should be voluntary, and set by the W3C or ISO, not any government. IF HMG thinks there should be a British standard for the code, then that is a job for BSO, not the PCC (and it might get adopted by the ISO, like 9001 ectetera did). HTois should only be used to simplify the production of a generic screenreader
4) Bloggers are not journalists, they are simply those who discuss stuff. THere is a difference, albeit some thimes that teh bloggers are telling more news.
5) This is a blog. (some ppl seem to forget that)
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Blog standards
If you dont like what you read - GO somewhere else. If you think the info is dubious -find somewhere else!
In other words -YOU talk to much -shut the hell up and and do something.
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