Maintaining an acceptable standard of ethical practice in journalism in an age of instant self-publishing maybe difficult to achieve. Blogging, despite all of its democratizing potential, seems to invite a host of problems, such as maintaining any hope of accuracy and balance.
For example, Information Week reporter Tom Smith notes the recent indiscretions of a Los Angeles Times journalist who posted comments on his and other blogs using pseudonyms. (For an earlier story on this incident please link here).
Smith observes:
"One less positive development when it comes to online news and journalism has been the ever-more-fuzzy distinction between blogs--with their lack of fact checking, their flame-oriented reader comments, and other shortcomings--and the journalistic work that drives daily newspapers."
More interestingly, Smith wonders how younger readers will come to learn how to differentiate between faster and far looser styles of blogging and the more traditionally vetted forms of journalistic writing.
There is little question these days that the speed and quantity of information available on the Web today represents a serious challenge to those of us concerned about journalistic integrity and ethical practices. Have readers ever been 100 percent confident of the veracity of what is being reported? Of course not, but the digital age has ramped up the speed in which people feel informed or misinformed. And therein, to borrow from the bard, lies the rub.