Josh Catone over at ReadWriteWeb has written a stellar piece on blogger ethics. He takes a look at situations when bloggers should disclose possible sources of bias, and others when the practice is just silly. I’ve decide to take the ball and run with it by taking a look at what a blogger’s code of ethics should entail.

Since Josh has raised the question of financial disclosures, this article will look specifically at that aspect of Ethics.

Finances

Bloggers, at least of the stripe that we talk about when we mention ethics, walk the fine line between media personalities and journalists. We report and analyze the news, we write editorials and many of us also manage to earn a pittance from our work. As media personalities, we really should not feel obliged to tell anyone about where this money is coming from, but as journalists we owe it to our readers to provide some form of disclosure.

When should you disclose?

Affiliates. If you write an article and one of the sites that you link to happens to be an affiliate (or contain affiliate code) you should certainly disclose this information. While I honestly don’t care if a book someone reviews contains a link to their Amazon account, I like to be informed. Readers will put up with quite a bit as long as they don’t feel tricked.

Professional Relationships. I do Consulting work for Grooveshark, I am friends with a major investor into PayPerPost and several of the companies that I have mentioned in conjunction to the GUT Conferences I have either met or have dealt with with their Founders / CEOs personally. Which of these three should I disclose? I think the first two are important while the third should be optional.

The fact that I have met the Founder of a company does not automatically mean I am biased towards them. Disclosure is designed as a method of putting your bias’ on the table. When a professional relationship could affect the objectivity of your reporting, you should disclose. Otherwise, it might be a service to your readers but I don’t think it is necessary.

Financial Entanglements. If you are invested in a company that you report on, you should certainly inform your readers. Especially in the case where a link from you could substantially affect a companies future prospects (blogs like Techcrunch are notorious for this). Financial entanglements include any form of investment (that you are aware of) that would cause you to have a financial windfall if a company does well.

It is not always possible to be certain what your investment portfolio covers, but you should do your best to try.

Paid Postings. Always. If you are being paid to write anything for anyone for any reason, disclose. If a sponsor requests content, disclose. If you use PayPerPost or ReviewMe, disclose. If you suddenly receive a $10,000 check in the mail from Microsoft for that nice piece that you wrote on them that you don’t remember writing, disclose..

As a blogger you are an opinion leader. Your credibility is worth something or sponsors would never ask you to co-opt it. I have nothing against the idea of being paid to write, but if you are going to lend your voice to an advertiser it is only fair to let your readers know.

Advertorials. If you endorse a product or service for financial compensation, let your readers know. Many of my productivity posts will contain videos from Videojug, where appropriate. They are a new ad partner of mine and I really believe that their content has value. While I am not directly paid for including their content in any post, I do earn a CPM. I would never review their site without disclosing this information because while it does nothing to color my opinion of them (I accepted the partnership because I think their service has value) it is relevant information for my readers.

Why Disclose

The argument could be made that bloggers should not be held to the same standard as journalists. My counter-point is that bloggers, as media personalities, can potentially be more influential than any individual journalist could be. We influence the word view of large numbers of readers on a daily basis. Since we allow people to comment on our work, blog readers tend to feel closer to blog authors than the average person does to a CNN anchor. It’s for this reason that we should use the influence that we have been entrusted with wisely.

Disclosing puts everyone on the same footing and shows that you trust your readers to support you even if they are aware of ways that you advertise. It shows that you want your readers to trust your opinions as unbiased or at least trust them enough to expose your bias’. Having a strong ethic of disclosure might be what truly legitimizes blogging in the eyes of the mass media.

Web 2.0 Roundup

For those who are interested, here is my standard disclosure.

• I will never review products that I have an advertising relationship with unless I disclose that relationship.
• I will try to disclose professional relationships with companies that I spotlight within the body of the post that they are mentioned.
• I currently use Google Adsense and Kontera to monetize my blog. I do not have full control over the ads that are served by these networks so I do not officially endorse any content served by them.
• Any links to my Amazon Storefront or future affiliate programs will be disclosed within the body of the post that they are mentioned.

If you ever need more information about my disclosure policy, or in the case of advertisers wish to discuss a relationship please contact me.

[Be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed before leaving]