What skin do you have in the game? Bloggers consider transparency one of the guiding principles they live by. Citizen journalists, too, should follow this simple rule: Disclose, disclose, disclose. Reveal your motives, your background, your financial interests in writing about a subject.
While no one can plausibly argue with the idea that journalists need to disclose certain things, such as financial conflicts of interest, a reasonable question is how much we need to disclose. Should journalists of all kinds be expected to make their lives open books? How open?
Personal biases, even unconscious ones, affect the journalist as well. Example: An American from a middle-class background is brought up in with certain beliefs that many folks in other lands (and some in the United States) flatly reject. We need to be aware of the things we take for granted.
Another way to be transparent is how we present a story. We should link to source material as much as possible, bolstering what we tell people with close-to-the-ground facts and data.
Note: We don’t necessarily agree with everything said by the people featured in this section. Transparency is not an entirely clear-cut issue. Please chime in with your own ideas in the comments here or on the individual pages.
Transparency in journalism
Screencast: Traditional journalism is often opaque in its practices, while bloggers and citizen journalists hold up transparency as a central tenet. In this 5-minute video, we hear from Jay Rosen, PressThink; Mary Hodder, Dabble.com; Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia, and Aaron Barlow, ePluribus Media.
Mary Hodder on transparency
Video interview: Mary Hodder, CEO of Dabble.com, discusses the importance of transparency and other principles to journalism, blogging and citizen media.
‘Rocketboom’ and disclosure
Video/article: Andrew Baron, founder of the popular Internet TV program Rocketboom, accepted a payment from the political campaign of former Sen. John Edwards to announce Edwards’ run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for president. Was that all right?
Is it cool to be anonymous?
Article: Should bloggers or citizen journalists ever write anonymously, even though the Internet affords ample tools to let them do so?
Transparency begets trust
Article: Jeff Jarvis of Buzzmachine, David Sifry of Buzzmachine and Mary Hodder discuss the importance of transparency in the blogosphere and how journalism could benefit from some disinfectant sunlight as well.
Transparency resources
Online directory: Tips and resources for best practices in disclosure online, from journalism organizations and independent sites.