Author: john

Blogging ethics

I attended a session last night about the comparative ethics of blogging and mainstream journalism. The session centered around a recent article about a L.A. Times columnist who was caught pseudonymously making politically charged comments on a blog.

The talk centered around the question of whether or not this action was ok. Many of the bloggers on the panel (and students in the room) appeared to believe that there was no ethical conflict for the columnist, since he was doing this on his own time and made an extra effort to distance himself from his employer.

What I took away from the session (admittedly confirming some of my previous beliefs) was the increasing importance of the editor in our new mass communication landscape. Institutional mass communicators like newspapers and television stations have processes, people, and the persona of the institution in place as ethical guards. Many bloggers, on the other hand, have only themselves to answer to. In this way, it seems to me that while blogging may technically be mass communication, this lack of additional blocks makes their actions more like that of an individual speaker (note that even the panelists who reviewed submissions/blogrolls did little of this editing, with a few exceptions).

Should this mean that bloggers should be held to a lower ethical standard? If so, should this be extended to legal standards? Is it then the readers’ responsibility to make these distinctions? How can mass communicators and bloggers possibly manage these expectations?

Copying and learning

The story about the young novelist caught accidentally plagiarizing from one of her favorite authors calls to mind a thought I’ve had recently about the role of copying in learning.

It seems to me that imitation is a crucial part of the learning process. Examples: Babies learn to talk by mimicking their parents’ vocal sounds. Garage bands learn and perform covers to figure out what it takes to write a good song. Someone making their first film may borrow cinematographic elements from favorite directors. College kids quote extensively when writing papers until they get a better grasp on the material.

In each case, copying is playing a crucial role in the learning process. I’m not aware of any existing theories of learning by imitation, but would be greatly surprised if something similar was not already out there (perhaps in psychology or education).

What is alarming about this case is that the institutional processes of publication did not catch this earlier. While authors create, it is a publisher’s job as editor to know the field and separate the good from the bad. This case appears to only involve plagiarism, thus not really a legal, but it illustrates some of the core theoretical issues in copyright nonetheless.

WiFi bringing people together?

My University has recently changed their wireless system so that all users sign in to an access point which is building-specific. I’ve often thought that this might offer an excellent opportunity to share information about what’s going on in a particular location, or on campus as a whole. Perhaps some kind of events or news board for a building might have the power to bring people together in a way that a traditional bulletin board might not. By creating an online space which is tied to a physical place, individuals may have more opportunities to get to know others.
The same may be true for municipal WiFi projects. If communities can utilize easy-to-use online tools which are integrated with a physical location, people might find an interest in events, volunteer opportunities, or other civic actions that they may not have otherwise.

Protecting Drafts

Two articles appeared in the Times today which call into question the balance of power between government enforcement and journalists’ privilege.

First, the “F.B.I. Is Seeking to Search Papers of Dead Reporter.” The family of a Washington reporter who recently passed away is fighting attempts to dig through papers to search for classified material. Of particular concern is the apparent fishing expedition that the F.B.I. wishes to go on:

“They talked about the Aipac case and that they thought Dad had some classified documents and they wanted to take fingerprints from them” to identify possible sources, he [the reporter’s son] recalled. “But they said they wanted to look at all 200 boxes and if they found anything classified they’d be duty-bound to take them.”

Also in the news are the subpoenas of reporters for their notes in the ongoing Plame leak scandal.

Traditionally, a reporter’s notes or other materials used in the newsgathering process (different courts in different locales have set different standards of protection). The argument is that these materials are necessary in forming effective speech. One might say that not protecting this material could lead to even less depth in reporting, and more superficial coverage like that of 24 hour cable news, blogs, and even this post (more feeling, less fact). When the authorities wish to simply troll through materials looking for broken laws, we must really worry about chilling journalist speech.