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Toward A More Ethical Blogosphere

The recent controversies surrounding Democratic blogger Jerome Armstrong and Republican blogger Patrick Hynes have sparked a bit of online soul-searching about where, if at all, to draw ethical boundaries in the blogosphere. Two Republican bloggers posted entries on the topic yesterday.

Jim Geraghty of National Review Online, who broke the story about Hynes, used an entry that Armstrong posted at MyDD on Friday as a springboard to talk more about blog disclosures. He said he fears that "the phenomenon of bloggers secretly being on candidate's payrolls ... is, or is going to be, the new trend in campaigns."

He also warned bloggers that he is scouring Federal Election Commission records to find such connections. (Coincidentally, I've been doing the same for about a month, and it's a chore.) "Think of this as a one-time amnesty," Geraghty wrote. "If you’re a blogger, and you’re being financially compensated by a candidate, and you have not yet disclosed this fact to your readers, send me an e-mail. Tell me your side of the story."

He ended his screed with this advice to blog consultants and paid campaign bloggers: "Simple solution – disclose it, guys. It doesn't have to be done repeatedly, but it's probably best to keep it in a prominent spot on the blog. And after the work is over, try to keep it in a convenient spot."

La Shawn Barber also joined the debate with an entry titled "How To Avoid A Blogosphere Scandal: Disclose!" It was the first of what she promises will be a series of posts on sound blogging principles.

Barber started with praise for the mainstream media. "While we may question mainstream media’s truth-seeking ability or whether they truly strive to provide a 'fair' account of events," she said, "I believe that in general, most journalists recognize that with a free press comes responsibility." She added that bloggers need to keep that in mind as the medium develops.

"Bloggers should disclose financial relationships with politicians and businesses they blog about," Barber said. "If you don’t and a blog swarm ensues, you can’t blame anyone but yourself."

Over at Dean's World, meanwhile, Dean Esmay said Armstrong's defense of the scandals surrounding him is "good enough for me."

And Geraghty highlighted comments that Hugh Hewitt made about the Hynes scandal. A couple of weeks ago, Hynes leveled a pointed criticism at Hewitt for considering himself "King Republican" and suggested that Hewitt was working for potential presidential contender Mitt Romney, currently the governor of Massachusetts.

Hewitt's response: "[F]or Patrick -- while already 'in the services' of John McCain to suggest I was 'in the services' of Mitt Romney -- is to my eyes a much worse offense than non-disclosure of a relationship which would have been disclosed eventually. It was the pot calling a non-kettle black."

Geraghty added, "[O]ne can't help but wonder if Hynes suspected that others were/are secretly working for a 2008 presidential candidate because he himself had that undisclosed arrangement."

Posted by Danny | 09:18 AM

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