No, sir, Carl's not drinking the Kool-Aid."The past few weeks have thrown up another worry about children and the Internet, as if parents don't have enough on their hands.
"I'm talking about blogs."
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September 08, 2007Some bloggers are journalists when they write about politics
Dandy little report from WaPo: WASHINGTON -- DailyKos, an influential political Web site that serves as a virtual bulletin board for liberals, qualifies as a media entity exempt from federal campaign finance regulations, the Federal Election Commission said Tuesday. The FEC said the Web site, operated by blogger Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, cannot be regulated as a political committee and can freely post blog entries that support candidates. Conservative blogger John C.A. Bambenek had argued in a complaint last month that the site should comply with campaign finance laws because such entries amounted to "a gift of free advertising and candidate media services." The FEC disagreed. Posted by Allan Jenkins at 08:15pm in Citizen Journalism, Journalism, Politics | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (2) | TrackBack (1) May 02, 2007Pentagon to troops: don't blog and don't email
Virginia Postrel writes on her Dynamist blog: "The geniuses in the Pentagon have decided that soldiers shouldn't be allowed to send emails or post to blogs without clearing the content with a superior officer." I'm glad I served in the US Navy. I used to say "the government got some cheap labor, I learned to type at 75 wpm and read punched tape like I was reading a book. We both got a good deal." But I got a lot more out of it than that, and I hope I contributed a little, too. But the chickenshit -- that's the only word for it, as social critic Paul Fussell has pointed out -- of the military is unbelievable. I once failed a room inspection and was written up because I had an "Iranian" flag hanging over my bed. That it was actually the flag of South Carolina made no difference. Once on report, you are on report until the captain (in this case, a Carolinian, thankfully) can pass judgment. So it surprises me not a bit that the Pentagon shuts off blogging and emailing from the war zone. The reason given is operational security, but I think we can dismiss that. The enemy in Iraq -- and who is that, these days? -- is angry, cunning and ruthless, but I doubt he is monitoring blogs (if he is, though, it puts him ahead of most companies). No, what the Pentagon wants to cut off is debate. Cut off criticism. Cut off discussion. Chickenshit. That's not going to work. Today's sailors, marines, soldiers and airmen are an educated lot. They know they are citizens first, soldiers second. And I suspect they are not going to be easily shut up if they want to speak out. Oh, they will obey orders -- you take an oath to do that, if the order is legal. But wait until they come home on leave... or get to a phone... or get rotated home. Word will get out. Posted by Allan Jenkins at 11:47pm in Citizen Journalism, Iraq War, Is Tedious in the House? | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (2) March 12, 2007Citizen journalism not welcome in France?
And have the French lost their minds? You commit a crime if you, a citizen, film a violent crime. "Well, yes sir, officer.... I saw the robbery, the shooting, the getaway car. Can't remember the plate number. I could have had it on my camera, but I didn't want to go to jail." Another hat top to Fisher. Posted by Allan Jenkins at 11:32pm in Citizen Journalism, Civil Liberty, Law | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) February 12, 2007What? No YouTube from the Turkmenistani women's wrestling team locker room?
Kevin Dugan brings the dreary news that the International Olympic Committee is considering banning athlete blogs. I think that's going to put a crimp on the fun of the 2008 Summer Games, and not just for the reason -- a damned good one -- noted in the headline The 2008 Olympics are to be held in Beijing, capital of one of the few countries you cannot just ignore (unlike, pretty much, San Marino). A country whose social and economic policies have been an abject failure since.... well, since forever. A country where, if the government is feeling confident, only jails dissident writers, journalists and bloggers. If it's feeling twitchy, though, it shoots them through the base of the skull. Oh, and China shoots uppity students, too. "Slum run by thugs" pretty much sums up the place. Never has so little been accomplished by so many -- because they have been held back by so few. I've been hoping the 2008 Olympics -- with the focused attention of the world's journalists, athletes, celebrities, commentators, and bloggers -- would help the Chinese government broaden themselves. But the IOC -- always terrified of offending host nations and television networks -- seems ready to put the lock-down on athletes with something to say. How they are going to accomplish this is beyond me -- are they going to somehow search MySpace, YouTube and the entire blogosphere for offenders? Maybe they should just give up -- it wouldn't do us or China one bit of harm. Hat tip to Todd And.... Posted by Allan Jenkins at 09:38pm in Citizen Journalism, Civil Liberty | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (1) October 31, 2006Camera phones bring photography to India
Stuart Henshall makes an interesting observation about camera-phone photography in India. "So you have a camera phone and you don't use it.... you are western and probably had access to camera for years. For most of your life you have been recorded, snapped, super8ed, videoed etc. There's societal rules about cameras and implied rules about camera phones. Your conclusions may be all wrong. "Now imagine a world where no one growing up had a camera. Where photos were taken at a wedding, relegated to studio shots for the rich, or Bollywood snaps appearing in the press. In a gross generalization, photography in India was 50 or 60 years behind the rest of the world until the mobile phone arrived. "Camera phones will impact society differently here. There was no progression from a camera. The mobile phone for many, is their first camera. They never learned to shoot with film or the constraints and expense of film. They never looked through a viewfinder. Photography for them starts on a device that is better at shorter distances. They are learning photography in a digital age. As a result India is about to experience an outpouring of imagery." (I am excerpting; the full article is worth a read.) This notion could, of course, be extended to any society leapfrogging to cheap digital technology -- the old rules don't apply, so we will see interesting new art, techniques, methods as a result. I just started reading Henshall's blog today... found it through Dina Mehta. Posted by Allan Jenkins at 08:40pm in Art, Citizen Journalism | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (2) October 11, 2005Recovery 2.0 Fiddles While Kashmir Burns: "We Don't Have the Tools" is OUT as an Excuse (Reprise)
Friend Neville Hobson urges us to Help Victims of Pakistan Earthquake. With a death toll climbing north of 20,000, the October 2005 Kashmir Earthquake knocks the entire Atlantic Hurricane season into the corner. After the earthquake & tsunami last year, the SEA-EAT blog/wiki project -- an entirely grassroots effort -- organized and swung into action within hours. After hearing Dina Mehta describe the effort at Reboot, I wrote about it, saying "We Don't Have the Tools is NOT an Excuse". Just as they did in the wake of Hurricane Katrina (my post here), many of the same team spontaneously assembled behind the South Asia Quake Help effort within hours of the quake: ("News and information about resources, aid, donations and
volunteer efforts after the South Asia Earthquake of October 8th, 2005.") And are doing an outstanding job. You can volunteer, by the way. These three efforts in nine months point, unfortunately, to the sluggishness and bureaucracy already clogging the arteries of Jeff Jarvis' Recovery 2.0 effort, which is aimed at doing what the SEA-EAT team already does far better. After weeks of talking about it, Jarvis managed to convene a meeting to talk about the project. The results of this meeting? * We need to work on standards and APIs for the tools and data bases people create
to help in disasters. The peoplefinder
standard is already underway and some of the folks from Yahoo at the meeting
— who had experience on the ground in Houston and also at the Red Cross network
operations center — are working on improvements. At a minimum, we need to do a
better job harnessing the internet to help people find each other. * We need to meet face-to-face with government, NGOs, and business to offer
help and coordinate. There is a meeting in Washington on Oct. 17 about just
that. In the meantime, the Kashmir was being leveled by an earthquake, and the South Asia Quake Help team organized itself and got to work. No meetings, no discussions of software options, no meetings in Washington. Jeff Jarvis: You have great influence; the members of your group have great influence. Instead of reinventing the wheel, why not use your influence to push funds and volunteers into the group behind SEA-EAT, Katrina Help, and South Asia Quake Help? The money your group has spent on travel alone -- just on the BART -- could fund any of these efforts. How about it? Technorati tags: Recovery 2.0Recovery2.0
pakistan+earthquake Posted by Allan Jenkins at 10:52am in Citizen Journalism, Current Affairs, Katrina, Online Media, Pakistan Earthquake, Smart Communities, Society, Tsunami | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (5) | TrackBack (2) ConvergeSouth Notes by Kevin Howarth
Josh Hallett helpfully passes on a link to Kevin Howarth's notes from ConvergeSouth, last weekend's "new media, journalism, and web creativity" conference in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA. I liked this quote from the Duncan Black (atrios, blogger at Eschaton): "The media rarely admits its mistakes. You should love mistakes - in the sense
that mistakes should be analyzed and part of the conversation." Isn't that the start of many conversations? While a desire to exchange information is behind most conversations, the richest conversations spring from disagreement, difference of opinion, or the correction of mistakes. Posted by Allan Jenkins at 09:49am in Citizen Journalism, Journalism, Online Media | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (3) | TrackBack (0) September 30, 2005Straits Times: Blogs Much Worse Than Porn
Carl Skadian, Straits Times reporter, has recently discovered blogs. And they scare the bejesus out of him. Get a load of the lead: Posted by Allan Jenkins at 08:39am in Bizarre & Amusing, Citizen Journalism, Civil Liberty, Journalism | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (3) | TrackBack (0) September 22, 2005Attention Saudi Dawn & Drew Fans: this Book is for you
My September paper copy of Wired has a spread on "countries that censor Web content -- and what really offends them (oddly, the article does not appear in the online edition). The list of offenders isn't surprising, but what scares them can be. Saudi Arabia blocks 100% of porn, for example, but also takes a hard line on humor, making it doubly hard for Saudi fans of Dawn & Drew, I suppose. Uzbekistan doesn't like porn either, and bans gmail. China is soft on porn, but bans Wikipedia. The criminals that run Burma really hate email -- and don't even think about eBay. "Bloggers are
often the only real journalists in countries where the mainstream media
is censored or under pressure. Only they provide independent news, at
the risk of displeasing the government and sometimes courting arrest. Reporters Without Borders has produced
this handbook to help them, with handy tips and technical advice on how
to remain anonymous and to get round censorship, by choosing the most
suitable method for each situation." It's available in English, French, Chinese, Arabic, and Persian. Posted by Allan Jenkins at 04:42pm in Books, Citizen Journalism, Civil Liberty, Journalism, Law, Online Media, Society | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0) September 19, 2005Desirable Roasted Coffee is not Tripe...
On Monday afternoon the first in a series of three
debates hosted by the European Parliament on the implications of the
information society highlighted a number of issues in the use of
so-called weblogs. Major concerns were the accountability of "bloggers"
and the protection of privacy - or rather the lack of both. I enjoy living in Europe, my home for over 20 years. Since I get back to the American South fairly often, I'm able to feed my desires for the best of that region, without being overly irritated by the things that prompted me to leave. If I could ever be prompted to leave Europe, it would probably from a fit of pique sparked by the distrust European officialdom has always shown innovations in media. Example: 15 years ago, it was illegal to have a satellite dish in Denmark. Why? People might watch who knows what all! And while that "what all" might be as innocent as a Turkish soap opera, it wouldn't be Danish. Example: 7 years ago, I was on an IFPMA panel discussing the intersection of health care and the Internet. I was seated next to a functionary of the Belgian health ministry, who sputtered so vehemently that all online discussion of pharmaceuticals and treatments should be illegal, even jailable, that my notes today are even wet with his spittle. I naively thought we were past that. But now the European Parliament is holding hearings about blogging. And... they are getting pretty poor advice from the usual suspects: journalists frightened to death, who are willing to drag in any red herring rotting behind the fishmongers. Here's a quote from the "debate". "As Karlin Lillington, a technology journalist of the Irish Times pointed out, "journalists
face libel laws, whereas some bloggers behave as if they're in the Wild
West. Bloggers will state things without saying where they got them
from. And increasingly, blogs are used to promote products without
making this clear"." This is fairly easy to parse. Wild West (or cowboy, or John Wayne) is a code-phrase for the US. Americans roar with laughter when I tell them this, but that's just how it is. So what Lillington is really saying is "[European] journalists face libel laws, whereas some [European] bloggers behave as if they're in [the United States]". Well, that's bullshit. Libel laws apply to everyone. To the extent that those laws and court precedents differentiate between two classes, it's journalists, not "private" citizens who get the better break. And bloggers are suspect because they promote products? Well, Desirable Roasted Coffee doesn't and doesn't intend to. But what if I did? What business is it of the European Parliament or the Irish Times? Not much. We bloggers had at least one ally: Thomas Burg, of BlogTalk.net, saw things very differently, saying "weblogs are not about content but about sharing, learning and connecting with other people".
Blogs should thus be seen as free conversations between people who do
not need to adhere to specific rules, rather than as news postings on
the Internet. But he was quickly shot out of the saddle (obligatory cowboy metaphor) by Aidan White, General Secretary (note to Aidan: Socialism is dead... get a new title) of the International Federation of Journalists: "a democratic society sets certain norms and
standards which should not be thrown out of the window. He deplored the
lack of a global legal framework to combat child pornography and
libellous or hateful weblogs on the Internet."
Note, students of rhetoric, how deftly Aidan White connects your unregulated blog to abhorrent crime, libel, hate, the discarding of democratic norms. You'd look positively anti-social... even criminal... if you object now to having some "norms" and "regulations" put on your blog. And Karlin Lillington is also quick to question your values, your morals, your stand-upness for the law if you happen to be a citizen journalist: "As regards privacy, Lillington acknowledged
that weblogs after last December's tsunami were a useful source of
information and that pictures taken by passers-by after the bomb
attacks on the London underground were posted on the Internet quicker
than by any established news organisation, but she also stressed that
these did somehow damage privacy. However, she added, "these are not new crimes, there are just new tools to commit them"." Well, Karlin Lillington, that makes it clear. Now I know exactly the difference between a paid Irish Times journalist and a blogger who both witness.... no, hang on... I'll get it right in a minute! Bear with me... Posted by Allan Jenkins at 12:55pm in Bloggers, Blogging, Citizen Journalism, Civil Liberty, Communication, Expatriate Life, Journalism, Politics | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0) September 09, 2005Lesson for Communicators: Grassroots Tsunami Team Remobilizes For Katrina
What can ordinary people do in the face of catastrophe? Jeremy Pepper and Richard Edelman believe natural disasters are events that leave bloggers and wiki-builders powerless. Warren Bickford believes there's little that IABC can do. (Addendum: Jeff Jarvis is hard at work with a coterie to solve the next disaster -- Jeff, why don't you and your group help solve this one first: Keep reading for how you can volunteer.) Nothing could be further from the truth: bloggers can make a difference. While I agree with Pepper that few bloggers seem to be doing more than complaining about government efforts, I'd like to point out a huge exception. I've written earlier about the incredible South East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami blog/wiki effort that went into action hours after the tsunami. Grassroots- organized using blogs, wikis, IM, and Skype. And effective at a time with most governments and relief organizations were in shock. The same team has swung into action with the Katrina Help blog and wiki. The team, spanning three continents, including professional communicators, has used the blog, the wike, IM, and Skype to set up: So what can IABC and its members, PRSA and its members, any communicator -- or any one of us, for that matter, do to help this effort? The lesson here for communicators? Bloggers and micro-media users -- real communicators -- can make a difference. It's a question of rapid organization and will. We don't have the tools is no longer an excuse for us. Via Conversations with Dina and other sources. Posted by Allan Jenkins at 11:32am in Blogging for the Sheer Hell of It, Citizen Journalism, Communication, Current Affairs, IABC, Katrina, PRSA, Social Tools, South, Tsunami | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (5) | TrackBack (2) July 20, 2005Media Law Blog for Journalists and Bloggers
As they more and more often bump up against the law, (US) bloggers might do well to subscribe to the Media Law blog ("A Blog About Freedom of the Press"). Written by journalist/attorney Robert J. Ambrogi, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association & clearly a guy who asked "why be a member of one derided profession when I can choose two?" Sample post: Yesterday's
jailing of New York Times reporter Judith Miller for refusing to
disclose her sources heightens national attention on reporters' shield
laws. For anyone wanting to learn more about reporters, subpoenas and
shield laws, there is no better resource on the Web than The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Its special section, Reporters and Federal Subpoenas,
provides in-depth and frequently updated coverage of efforts to enact a
federal shield law as well as of ongoing legal controversies involving
reporters' subpoenas. A separate section, The Reporter's Privilege,
is a detailed examination, written in 2002, of the law regarding the
reporter's privilege in every state and federal circuit. It provides
statutes and cases and discusses both substantive and procedural issues. Hat tip to Cyberjournalist.net. Posted by Allan Jenkins at 01:37pm in Citizen Journalism, Journalism, Law, Online Media | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0) EU Considers Net-TV Regulation; Implications for Podcasters?
Via MarketingVOX comes this Times article: EU seeks to regulate television on the net. Since the technology that makes Internet-TV possible is not dissimilar from the technology that makes Internet-radio possible, I wonder if podcasting will come under regulatory scrutiny?` After all, if Internet-TV stations can be held to "fairness" and "equal time" standards, couldn't podcasters? And, if podcasters can be, why not bloggers? Is this a slippery slope or am I paranoid? Posted by Allan Jenkins at 12:15pm in Citizen Journalism, Civil Liberty, Communication, Law, Podcasting, Regulation | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (1) | TrackBack (0) July 06, 2005Dan Gillmor Wants Bloggers to Sign his Ethics Pledge... Will This Meme Never Die?
I hate to be churlish (well...), but the idea of a collective Ethics Pledge for Bloggers has reared its hoary head -- again. This time at the instigation of none other than Dan Gillmor. Writing at his Bayosphere effort, Gillmor urges bloggers to pledge to work in the interests of the community, be fair, be accurate... blah blah blah. Jeff Jarvis rips the idea, saving me the trouble (Jarvis also saved our bacon by pooh-poohing Nick Denton's idea for a collective blogger ethics code, as I discussed in December). Among other points, Jarvis notes: He requires us to promise to "work in the community interest." What
community? What interest? Who's to say what the community interest is?
I can only guarantee that I will post in my interest; whether I post in
the community's interest, the community will have to decide. He requires that I be "fair: I'm always listening to and taking
account of other viewpoints." No, there are some viewpoints I will not
take into account and not listen to. I won't listen to trolls I've put
on my ignore list. I won't listen to terrorist sympathizers. I know
that's not what Dan and company are asking with this, but others would.
This is the issue with such a pledge: It's open to such varying
interpretation: Someone will say gotcha, you didn't listen to people
who hate America. And I will say: Damned straight, I won't. Undaunted, Gillmor urges us to use Honor Tags. Even the estimable Steve Rubel climbs aboard. Here at Desirable Roasted Coffee, we keep a pot of Ethics on the stove at all times, so we won't be signing any damned collective pledges or adding honor tags in the near future. No, ma'am! Posted by Allan Jenkins at 03:25pm in Bizarre but Expected, Citizen Journalism, Ethics, Is Tedious in the House? | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (5) | TrackBack (0) July 05, 2005Politicians Deal With Newcomer, The Blog
An interesting twist on the "bloggers are/are not journalists" is buried in yesterday's Washington Post article Politicians Deal With Newcomer, The Blog. The short story: an anonymous commenter on the Not Larry Sabato political blog speculated on the political ambitions of Shayna Englin, spouse of Northern Virginia politician David Englin: "First came this posting on the site virginia2005.blogspot.com:
"David isn't the only Englin with designs on public office. . . .
There's going to be an Englin running for Congress in 2006, but not the
one you think. I know for a fact that Shayna has already been getting
pledges for money for her race." "Then a slightly
more disturbing note appeared on the same Web site: "Driving home
tonight, guess what I saw on the Englins' front lawn??? Democrat Greg
Werkheiser. I walked back to try to listen into the conversation but
couldn't hear much without being obvious." This, perhaps not surprisingly, outraged Shayna Englin: Shayna Englin... said ... she was "chilled" to learn that people were spying
on her home and posting what they saw on the Internet. "It's
creepy. That somebody would spread rumors on Jim Moran's seat, that's
not all that surprising. The fact that somebody is keeping tabs on who
we have over to dinner, that's more problematic," she said. "The whole
thing about being anonymous is that there's no accountability. They can
literally post anything." The blogger said he did not know whether the postings about
Shayna Englin, which were e-mailed to the site anonymously, were true.
The group did not call her for a response. The goal is to rush
information into the public domain. Otherwise, he said, "it would give
her a chance to delay or deny that rumor." "We don't
have the same standards as [the mainstream media]," he said. "If
someone makes a defamatory statement, that has nothing to do with us.
We are not responsible for what other people are saying on our blog.
It's kind of like a hotel pool. There's no lifeguard. You are
responsible for yourself." The problem with this approach (especially when directed against politicians) is that once these politicians get elected, they may turn their guns on bloggers. Posted by Allan Jenkins at 12:27pm in Bloggers, Citizen Journalism, Journalism, Public Relations | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0) June 14, 2005More Reboot 7.0 Notes: Loïc Le Meur on the European Blogosphere
I know, I know, Reboot 7.0 has been over for three days, and few notes from me. Or, rather, tried to. Loïc is one of these super-enthused speakers who, in the flurry of thinking faster than he can speak, tends to start down one fascinating trail, only to abrubtly choose another. Five trails followed to completion would be great content; 10 trails started and abandoned is like going to a tapas bar and not being allowed to eat. Further, he was using his wiki as both the presentation to us and speaker notes for himself, which always means a lot of cursors flying around the screen, three-four pages in quick clicking succession, only to have the wrong page show up. Followed by furious back-clicking and re-clicking. I don't know about the rest of the room, but by the end, I was a twitching bundle of nerve. But... he had some cool notes to impart. The best way to get at them is to visit his European Blogosphere Wiki, where you can, of course, make corrections and additions. A few notes: Le Meur gave us several case studies. The one that caught my eye was that of La Fraise, the brainchild of Patrice Cassard. Cassard likes tee-shirts. Likes odd tee-shirts. He started showing his best ones on his site... and people started asking where they could buy them. A problem, since they were custom-made. Now, most people would rapidly come up with the idea of starting an online tee-shirt store. But Cassard goes further: he lets readers come up with designs, and lets readers vote on the ones they like best. Cassard creates the winners in limited, and pricy, editions (and a few lucky voters get theirs for free). And who generates the buzz? The lucky tee-shirt wearers who now have begun sending Cassard photos of them in their shirts. How quirky is that? Posted by Allan Jenkins at 03:57pm in Bloggers, Blogging, Blogging for Benjamins, Blogging for the Sheer Hell of It, Citizen Journalism, Reboot 7.0, Technology | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (2) | TrackBack (0) June 11, 2005Reboot: We Don't Have the Tools is OUT as an Excuse
Yesterday and today were given over to the Reboot, I didn't blog directly, but many others did (not all results will be about the conference but pick around). I do better waiting for the serendipity to happen. I'll post highlights as I get my head around them. Here's the first in a series: We don't have the tools is OUT as an excuse Dina Mehta's presentation used as its case example the South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami Blog Dina helped organize. Incredible. The team used free (or nearly so) collaborative tools (Skype, IM, IRC) to put together a blog that attracted 1 million visits in the first week. And as the contributions and comments to the blog began (quickly) to become unwieldy, they created sub-blogs, and then a wiki to categorize the information. The team was flat, without titles, with immense passion and, apparently little recourse to sleep. What's key here is that drive and brains and a willingness to collaborate, not expensive tools and committees, created this site. Posted by Allan Jenkins at 11:05pm in Bloggers, Blogging, Blogging for Benjamins, Blogging for the Sheer Hell of It, Citizen Journalism, Communication, Copenhagen, Reboot 7.0, Technology | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (2) May 29, 2005Search for Creative Commons Content in Yahoo! Advanced Search
Via Joi Ito comes welcome news: You can search for Creative Commons content in Yahoo's Advanced Search. Posted by Allan Jenkins at 06:14pm in Citizen Journalism, Current Affairs, Intellectual Property | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0) May 27, 2005Becker-Posner See No Need for Blogger Ethics Codes, but Argue for Sales-Tax on E-Commerce
Desirable Roasted Coffee's Code of Blogging Ethics is voluntary (and applies to this site only). I wrote it partly in response to Nick Denton's call for a formal blog ethics committee (seconded by Jason Calacanis), a call that I considered and consider naive and unworkable. This week on the Becker-Posner Blog, US Circuit Judge Richard Posner and Nobel-prize winning economist Gary Becker argue that exempting bloggers from formal and voluntary ethics rules makes sound economic sense. Posner notes: "...the argument is that since the mainstream media have adopted ethical
standards concerning such matters as reliance on anonymous sources and
retraction of errors (with electronic media such as television stations
subject to formal regulation), so should bloggers. "Nevertheless I think this “exemption” of blogging from the ethical
standards applicable to the mainstream media makes good economic sense
because of economic and technological differences between those media
and the 'blogosphere'." I paraphrase his reasons: In short, no "cost" is borne by society by the lack of a common code of blogging ethics. Posner does argue, though, that the law banning sales-tax imposts on e-commerce distorts the market and imposes a externality on society. Becker agrees on both counts. The posts are the sort of 2000+ word full-feeds that may drive you to distraction if you are in a fast-food frame of mind. But if you want some mind-candy to noodle over this weekend, I highly recommend Posner's post and Becker's reply. What do you all think? Do we need a blogging code of ethics? Do we want sales-tax on e-commerce? Link: The Becker-Posner Blog: Blogging, Spam, and the Taxation of Internet Transactions—Posner. Posted by Allan Jenkins at 06:35pm in Citizen Journalism, Economics, Ethics, Journalism, Law, Online Media | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0) May 17, 2005Blogs May Not Be as Influential as Some Think
Back on (US) Election Night, I noted that bloggers failed to deliver. And they did fail... mainstream media was way ahead of the blogosphere in reporting just about every race (because MSM can deploy more troops to report. Now Personal Democracy Forum reports that bloggers were not all that influential -- or as influential as blogosphere myth would make it -- before the election: "Bloggers are often touted as influential instigators, feeding
buzz-worthy topics to the mainstream media they so disdain, and even
guiding discussion in other communication channels. Not so, says a new
study analyzing the impact of political blogs on the national
conversation leading up to the 2004 presidential election. Indeed,
Buzz, Blogs, and Beyond: The Internet and the National Discourse in the
Fall of 2004 concludes that, while a force to be reckoned with, blogs
are merely cogs in the meme machine." Link: Blogs May Not Be as Influential as Some Think | Personal Democracy Forum. Posted by Allan Jenkins at 12:05pm in Bloggers, Citizen Journalism, Politics | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0) Why Bloggers Shouldn't Fear FEC Regs
Forbes' Steve McGookin (in Blogging Through the Tulips) puts his finger on the problems facing the US Federal Elections Commission when it tries to answer "should political blogs be regulated?" "Ordinarily, the U.S. Federal Elections
Commission is preparing to hire some extra mailroom staff about now.
But since the overwhelming majority of responses to the current
invitation to public comment are likely to arrive electronically, there
probably won't be many mail sacks to heave up to the boardroom. I blog, and do so freely as a US citizen. My blog is not a political blog, though back in November, I let my sentiments be known. But neither John Kerry or the Democratic Party knew about my blog, and certainly did not finance it. Roll the clock back to 1991-1998. During those years I was a member of American Democrats Abroad. I held various offices, including Chairman of American Democrats Abroad Scandinavia, and had a seat on the Democratic Party Committee Abroad, which handles party affairs for the expatriate community worldwide. I also ran a highly-partisan website (today, it would be a blog) that was financed by the Democratic Party. During those years, I learned more about Federal Election Law than I ever wanted to know, especially the area of campaign finance. Arcane? Organize a party reception for a congressman traveling abroad, and you will learn that while you can invite US citizens to the reception (and demand a donation), you can't invite the citizen and his or her spouse, if the spouse is not a citizen and if you ask for a donation. So, what if the spouse shows up? So, what if the spouse wants to buy a drink from the cash bar (which is being financed by a party contributor so, technically, to charge the spouse would be to accept funds from a non-US citizen, an FEC violation)? Political fundraising is, I found, a regulatory minefield. In theory, political advocacy need not be a regulatory minefield. In theory, a poltical advocacy blog should be the epitome of citizen journalism: one writer, one citizen, making his one voice heard in the political arena. And that view works if our blogger/writer is financing the political advocacy out of his own pocket. But what if the blog is paid for largely by ads sold to foreign corporations? Or just some of the ads are sold to foreign corporations? What if the blogger is a highly-paid campaign consultant by day and, without disclosing the day job, dons the cloak of citizen journalist/political blogger by night? I am a citizen and voter before I'm a blogger or citizen journalist. I prefer, as a citizen and voter, to know who's paying for political advocacy in the elections I'm expected to vote in. And having been active in grassroots party work, I can assure you that blogging purists who insist that political blogging is simply and only citizen journalism are naive about poltical parties and how they are financed. So, let the FEC regulate poltical bloggers if it must. Some bloggers will complain, but only if they think of themselves as citizen journalists first, citizens second. Posted by Allan Jenkins at 05:46am in Bloggers, Citizen Journalism, Politics | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (1) | TrackBack (0) May 09, 2005NYT's Adam Cohen Calls for Better Code of Blogging Ethics
Adam Cohen's editorial in Sunday's New York Times will almost certainly cause writhing and gnashing of teeth in the blogosphere. But the offended, when they calm down, should re-read the piece closely. Cohen is sometimes off-base. But his point is sound: bloggers, in attacking mainstream media (IMSM) -- must keep ethical standards that at least meet MSM's ethical standards. (Yes, I am aware that the New York Times, CBS, Washington Post, etc, have had ethics lapses, but another's failings are no excuse for one's own). Most -- let us say 95% -- bloggers could have the ethics of an alley-cat without anyone knowing the difference. But the most-read 5% have influence, however minor, in their profession, hobby, political party. And those at the very top? If Ana Marie Cox, Duncan Black and Josh Marshall don't have huge readership on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, who does? Cohen writes: "The thing about influence is that, as bloggers well know, it is only a
matter of time before people start trying to hold you accountable.
Bloggers are so used to thinking of themselves as outsiders, and
watchdogs of the LSM (that's Lame Stream Media), that many have given
little thought to what ethical rules should apply in their online
world. Some insist that they do not need journalistic ethics because
they are not journalists, but rather activists, or humorists, or
something else entirely. But more bloggers, and blog readers, are
starting to ask whether at least the most prominent blogs with the
highest traffic shouldn't hold themselves to the same high standards to
which they hold other media." He concludes: "Bloggers may need to institutionalize ethics policies to avoid charges
of hypocrisy. But the real reason for an ethical upgrade is that it is
the right way to do journalism, online or offline. As blogs grow in
readers and influence, bloggers should realize that if they want to
reform the American media, that is going to have to include reforming
themselves." Cohen's piece goes to the heart of the "Are Bloggers Journalists?" discussion, since bloggers can't have it both ways. Courts are unlikely to allow "But I'm a reporter" claims when the blogger, on cross-examination, admits to not getting two or more sources, checking facts, revealing payments, etc. These bloggers will quickly learn that being a "reporter" has, in fact, little to do with a title, but much to do with adhering to standards. Cohen calls for bloggers to publish ethics codes. Why not? It's easy to do. I published the Desirable Roasted Coffee Code of Blogging Ethics -- a contract with readers -- because I believe to have a readership is a privilege, and a trust. Influential bloggers are far more privileged -- and the trust is greater. Pledging to a code of ethics wouldn't be a bad move for them. Posted by Allan Jenkins at 08:31am in Bloggers, Citizen Journalism, Desirable Roasted Coffee, Ethics, Journalism, Online Media | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0) May 02, 2005Podcasting - Usability, Technical & Audio Production Suggestions
As I listen to more podcasts, I am more and more irritated by poor production values. Just as I have stopped reading some (otherwise valuable) blogs because of opaque headlines and leads, I'm sure I'll start dropping some podcasts because of bad sound. So I commend to budding podcasters Derek Leverington's wonderfully understated essay Podcasting: Usability, Technical & Audio Production Suggestions. "With podcasting being something of a new phenomenon and often being
undertaken by those without training or experience in the area of audio
production or experience in usability design, I thought it worthwhile
to give some thought to some suggestions for making the content as
consumable as possible." Posted by Allan Jenkins at 11:36am in Citizen Journalism | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0) April 22, 2005Nolan on Stand Alone Journalism
Jay Rosen (Press Think) invited Chris Nolan (Politics From Left To Right) to develop her thoughts on stand-alone journalism. The result is a long, but insightful article Chris Nolan: The Stand Alone Journalist is Here published on Jay's blog. Here's an excerpt: "These are not bloggers. They are people who are using
blogging technology-- software that allows them to quickly publish their
work and broadcast it on the Internet--to find and attract users. They
understand that the barrier to entry in this new business isn't getting
published; anyone can do that. The barrier to entry is finding an
audience. That's why their editorial product is consistent, reliable
and known. Readers have expectations and stand alone journalists
understand this and put that understanding into practice. "So what--exactly--is a stand alone journalist? That's a definition
that's going to vary with the person, of course, just as no group or
reporters can really agree on what makes a "journalist." For me, the
stand alone journalist succeeds in getting stories told in an honest
and forthright manner without benefit of working for a larger news
outlet. That doesn't mean they're objective or impartial; it means
they're honest about their points of view or assumptions. A stand alone
journalist understands that the main job is to inform readers; and the
ethics that salaried journalists have when it comes to fairness,
accuracy and honesty aren't just phrases. They're a discipline for
doing the work that needs to be done: getting your facts right, your
assumptions validated, your arguments well grounded." There's much more to the article, which is a fine one. Posted by Allan Jenkins at 06:27pm in Citizen Journalism, Communication, Journalism | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0) | |||||||||||
