The following is the "Declaration of Principles on the Conduct of Journalists" (adopted by the Second World Congress of the International Federation of Journalists at Bordeaux on 25-28 April 1954 and amended by the 18th IFJ World Congress in Helsingör on 2-6 June 1986.)
Is there anything here that could not, should not, would not be adopted by "reputable" bloggers? At least in posts proporting to report facts? And would it be useful to have a separation between "news reporting" and "op/ed" in a blog? Should anything in the following principles be added when applied to blogs? Omitted?
This international Declaration is proclaimed as a standard of professional conduct for journalists engaged in gathering, transmitting, disseminating and commenting on news and information and in describing events.
1. Respect for truth and for the right of the public to truth is the first duty of the journalist.
2. In pursuance of this duty, the journalist shall at all times defend the principles of freedom in the honest collection and publication of news, and of the right of fair comment and criticism.
3. The journalist shall report only in accordance with facts of which he/ she knows the origin. The journalist shall not suppress essential information or falsify documents.
4. The journalist shall use only fair methods to obtain news, photographs and documents.
5. The journalist shall do the utmost to rectify any published information which is found to be harmfully inaccurate.
6. The journalist shall observe professional secrecy regarding the source of information obtained in confidence.
7. The journalist shall be aware of the danger of discrimination being furthered by the media, and shall do the utmost to avoid facilitating such discrimination based on, among other things, race, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinions, and national or social origins.
8. The journalist shall regard as grave professional offences the following:
- plagiarism
- malicious misrepresentation
- calumny, slander, libel, unfounded accusations
- the acceptance of a bribe in any form in consideration of either publication or suppression.
9. Journalists worthy of that name shall deem in their duty to observe faithfully the principles stated above. Within the general law of each country the journalist shall recognize in professional matters the jurisdiction of colleagues only, to the exclusion of every kind of interference by governments or others.
http://www.uta.fi/ethicnet/ifj.html
(Note: before armchair snarking about the "mainstream media" takes over this thread, note that journalists around the world have died, withered in prison, been tortured and/or faced severe intimidation for adhering to these principles, (including here in America, from Benjamin Franklin Bache and William Duane, publishers of The Philadelphia Aurora, to The New York Times and Washington Post, by publishing the Pentagon Papers, released by Daniel Ellsberg) and that millions of people around the world owe their freedoms, and often their lives to courageous journalists who upheld their commitment to these principles and spoke truth to power. Without hiding behind pseudonyms on the Web. These are not just empty words. The question is, do they/can they/should they apply to news-bloggers?)