I enjoyed David Weinberger’s response to the Wall Street Journal’s flimsy attack on the integrity of certain bloggers for presuming to write about projects where they are acting as advisers. In the examples reviewed, the bloggers made a disclosure of their interest.
David gets the nuances, so perhaps I can indulge in a little oversimplification. (It’s all right, I’m just one of those dangerous bloggers who has the barefaced cheek to express his views without the sanction of a committee of licensed ethicisists).
Here’s how blogging works, as beautifully expressed last year by Adriana Cronin-Lucas, reported here by Suw Charman.
bias + transparency = credibility
I wonder if for some mainstream journalists there’s a risk that piety + pseudo-objectivity = same fate as dinosaurs?
Disclosure: I like David Weinberger but he’s never bought me so much as a cup of coffee. He has had curry with a friend of mine and I must confess, I don’t know who paid for that.