A useful set of standards for bloggers

The Media Bloggers Association describes itself as “a nonpartisan non-profit organization dedicated to promoting, protecting and educating its members; supporting the development of “blogging” or “citizen journalism” as a distinct form of media; and helping to extend the power of the press, with all the rights and responsibilities that entails, to every citizen.”

Its founding members include Jeff Jarvis, Jay Rosen and Dan Gillmor, and among its aims are to provide legal support for bloggers who lack the funding to defend actions brought by much larger entities. (They also offer liability insurance, presumably to US bloggers, through a third-party provider.)

MBA lawyers have represented dozens of bloggers including most recently Joan Stewart in the Oprah Winfrey case — working with lawyers for Arianna Huffington and The Huffington Post. Other well-known cases include Associated Press/Drudge Retort, State of Maine/Maine Web Report, Batesline/Tulsa World.

I’ve not spent much time exploring what else they do but I like this set of standards for bloggers:

Standards we encourage include:

Honesty, fairness and accuracy: State what you know and how you know it. Use links to supporting documents on the web wherever possible; credit sources and link to other bloggers. Distinguish fact from rumor and speculation. Be intellectually honest when expressing opinion. Don’t plagiarize or pass off others’ work as your own. Act responsibly and with personal integrity.

Transparency: Clearly disclose conflicts of interest including personal relationships, financial considerations or anything else that might influence or appear to influence your independence and integrity. If you accept payments from advertisers or sponsors, clearly demarcate advertorial from editorial content.

Accountability and trust: Use your own name and offer a means for readers to communicate with you. Engage your readers and trust them to form their own judgments and conclusions. Correct your mistakes promptly using strikethroughs or editor’s notes.

Respect for the privacy of private citizens: Private individuals may not want photographs, videos or information about them made available to a global audience, even if they’re in a public space. Use your judgment, and use special sensitivity when dealing with children and inexperienced sources or subjects.