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The problem with Dean Luis Teodoro’s assertion is that he is assuming that blogging is a form of a journalism. If he meant “subset” then I would have agreed. What he wanted to happen is to apply journalism ethics and principles on blogging. Why apply these principles when you are only talking about, for example, how you ended up being pathetic? You mean, I have to follow the inverted pyramid whatever and interview my mom, my dad, my friends, to get their sides when all I wanted to say is that I’m ugly?

Teodoro doesn’t seem to have a firm grasp of what blogging is. Well, in fairness to him, we can’t say that for certain; it is just conjecture based on his opinion, and on how the report was presented. The report cited Brian Gorrell and that Cebu rectal surgery scandal as two prime examples of what could go wrong online. Aside from sweeping statements made by Teodoro, he is assuming that blogs are newspaper-like Web sites.

I guess what he means is that bloggers who are presenting information should at least adhere to a certain standard; he should have qualified his argument instead of that sweeping statement that betrays his ignorance. What Teodoro did not know is that there were several efforts to have a code of ethics for bloggers, and all of them bogged down. The reason is simple: it is not enforceable. The technical issues alone are mind-boggling, to say it simply.

Maybe it is time for the UP College of Mass Communications to offer classes on blogging. (And no, I won’t even point out the irony in that report. If you are a journalist, you should see it.)

It all boils down to a blogger’s credibility. How can one be credible? While we cannot have a code of ethics for blogger, each blogger can adhere to his/her own code. A blogger can, for example, write a page stating what he/she would and would not do when blogging. A blogger can say that he/she would do everything to ensure that what would be presented is true and fair. And when that blogger adheres to that self-subscribed code, readers would know, and earns their trust and respect. And credibility.

(Will edit this soon.)

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