Adriana Gascoigne

I recently encountered a few scenarios where “unethical blogging” was taking place. I thought to re-post a piece that was published by CyberJournalist.net which highlights the basics to the rules and regs of ethical and moral journalism online. Some of the areas that it covers is honesty, minimizing harm, and accountability.

The following is a synopsis of the article:

A Bloggers’ Code of Ethics

Some bloggers recently have been debating what, if any, ethics the Weblog community should follow. Since not all bloggers are journalists and the Weblog form is more casual, they argue they shouldn’t be expected to follow the same ethics codes journalists are. But responsible bloggers should recognize that they are publishing words publicly, and therefore have certain ethical obligations to their readers, the people they write about, and society in general.

CyberJournalist.net has created a model Bloggers’ Code of Ethics, by modifying the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics for the Weblog world. These are just guidelines — in the end it is up to individual bloggers to choose their own best practices. CyberJournalist.net follows this code and urges other Weblogs to adopt this one or similar practices.

http://www.cyberjournalist.net/news/000215.php

 A site that I don’t know much about, however seems compelling if you have young Internet surfers in your household - Glubble, is a leading online activity center for families with children under 12. They are partnering with Highlights magazine, the best-read children’s magazine in the nation, to encourage parents to get more involved in the online lives of their children 12 and under.Starting October 16th, Highlights and Glubble will invite parents to take a survey exploring their children’s online activities and parental involvement at http://www.highlights.com/mt/parents/. Results will be published early November. Information on safe surfing will also be shared with Highlights subscribers and Glubble users, and be made available to the public at large.

Christine French Clark, editor in chief of Highlights magazine and Highlights High Five magazine, said: “The Internet, which opens up worlds of information, fun and skill-building activities for kids, isn’t a safe place in which to simply turn young kids loose. Parental involvement is key in helping our kids grow to be wise users of technology.”

Willem-Jan Schutte, CEO of Glubble added: “Just as responsible parents select which books to read to their children and decide which TV shows their children can watch, Glubble encourages parents to extend that level of parental involvement to the Web.”

Glubble turns playing and surfing on the Internet into an experience that is fun for the entire family, and makes it easy for parents to be involved with their kids’ online learning and discovery. With Glubble, parents with children under 12 can create a personal Kids Page for each child and pre-approve the Web sites their children can access from thousands of games, kids-safe and fun Web sites, printable coloring pages, downloadable Play Art toys and educational exercises. And parents can easily add more Web sites at any time, from the Glubble content library or any site on the Internet, so Glubble grows with the interests of children.

Glubble’s new social networking features include secure chat and message posting, picture sharing, and a family events organizer. These tools teach children best practices for social networking in a safe environment and serve to enrich the most important relationship of all family.
Highlights for Children launched their first web page for children HighlightsKids.com in 2003. The site, which offers interactive Hidden Pictures, games, puzzles and Highlights articles, was the first recipient of CARU’s Safe Harbor Seal. 

Change.org, the leading online hub for social action, today announced its launch of the first blog network for social issues.  The network covers more than a dozen of today’s most pressing social issues – including global warming, genocide, and human rights – and helps mobilize people interested in these causes to take action.

The launch comes at the climax of an election season in which voters have expressed a deep desire for fundamental social change.  Candidates from both parties have embraced the rhetoric of change, but neither campaign has provided specifics about how Americans can get involved beyond Election Day to make change happen.

Change.org is meeting this challenge by focusing the broad movement for change through the lenses of specific issues – providing fresh news and deep background information alongside tangible actions that people can take to have an impact.  To source these actions, Change.org has partnered with over 2000 of the world’s leading nonprofits – from Amnesty International to World Wildlife Fund – to identify the most effective ways people can get involved.

“Today we see millions of people across America passionate about change and getting involved in the presidential campaigns to help realize that goal.  This is incredibly exciting, but what happens after the election?” asked Change.org founder and CEO, Ben Rattray. 

“There’s a real risk of widespread disenchantment when the focus turns from bottom-up voter mobilization efforts to top-down governing in Washington.  We’re addressing this head-on by offering people a way to get directly involved in the issues they care about and to be a part of sustainable grassroots movements advancing change far beyond Election Day.”

Change.org was started by two former Stanford classmates in 2006 and pioneered the use of social networking as a tool for social change.  In preparation for today’s launch, the company hired a team of bloggers – all experts in their field – to cover daily news, offer commentary, profile innovative organizations, and highlight powerful ways to get involved.  By fusing social media and activist tools with a content network focused on important causes, Change.org now offers a unique combination of daily reporting on issues and opportunities for immediate action.

“The surging interest in social causes and civic participation we see across the country has the potential to transform the way we address social problems,” said Rattray, “but too often there is a disconnect between that interest and outlets for action.  The internet offers the unique potential for bridging this gap, and I think one of its biggest achievements will be to serve as a platform for empowering broad-based social change.  With today’s launch, we’re one step closer to making that happen.”