SPJ celebrates Ethics Week with “Blogapalooza

SPJ celebrates Ethics Week with “Blogapalooza”

By Jodi Cleesattle

Local bloggers hashed out ethical issues and discussed the role of blogs in today’s media at a forum sponsored by the SPJ San Diego Pro Chapter April 24, during SPJ’s Ethics Week.

The program, “Blogapalooza: Ethical Issues Online,” was moderated by voiceofsandiego.org co-editor Scott Lewis and included panelists San Diego Union-Tribune editorial board member Chris Reed, who blogs for “America’s Finest Blog” on the newspaper’s Web site; San Diego City Beat editor and blogger Dave Rolland, who edits and blogs at www.lastblogonearth.com; and North County Times staff writer Bradley Fikes who blogs independently at www.festeringswamp.com.

The panelists agreed that, for working journalists who blog, the differences between regular reporting and blogging are mostly a matter of format.

Reed said he has more freedom – both in style and substance – writing his blog.

“If I write it for the editorial board, it has to be agreed on by the editorial board, which rules out about 80 percent of what I write on the blog,” Reed said. “I can vent my bile on the blog. … In a blog, you have an opportunity to write in the first person, to be more personal, to be digressive.”

Reed added that he follows the same ethical standards whether writing for the newspaper or writing for the blog.

“I really don’t think the ethical standards are that different for blogs as for newspapers, and they shouldn’t be,” Reed said. “It’s just a different format.”

Rolland agreed that the same rules of good journalism apply to blogs and traditional media.

“I think the blog is no different in terms of standards in that it should be, one, interesting; two, factually correct; and three, proofread and corrected so there are not a lot of typos,” Rolland said.

Fikes said one important ethical rule is that bloggers should make clear when they’re reporting facts and when they’re stating their opinions.

“You’re entitled to your own opinions, but not to your own facts,” Fikes said. “You can’t mislead or deceive people.”

Reed said most bloggers specialize in sharing their opinions, not reporting facts.

“Bloggers are just pundits,” Reed said. “At least 95 percent of blogs don’t do any original reporting. But some blogs do tremendous reporting. Bloggers who do original reporting are more like journalists.”

Fikes noted that, although it can be hard to determine whether and when bloggers should be considered journalists, they should share some of the same freedoms.

“First Amendment rights are not just for journalists – they’re for everybody,” Fikes said.