Social Media Club Makes TechCrunch re: Our Initiative on Blogging Ethics

• October 26, 2006
• View Comments

Tonight we’re hosting a roundtable entitled, “Talking About Disclosure” to discuss honesty, ethics, and disclosure – the things that will serve as a solid foundation for blogs as well as helping to escalate credibility in the blogosphere, among consumers, and among traditional journalists.

The event even made TechCrunch today. Thanks Mike!

Arrington (along with many other important bloggers) have been both in the spotlight and the hotseat in regards to blog posts and how, why, and when to disclose business investments and potential conficts.

According to Mike, “I am a blogger with a lot of opinions, and because of that I’ve been involved in a number of heated discussions around journalistic integrity and ethics. Mainstream media defines journalistic integrity as a lack of financial interest in the subject matter of their reporting. I think integrity goes far beyond financial interests; in our subjective world conflicts of interest are nearly impossible to define around money alone.

But the friction destruction and market efficiency qualities of the Internet are leading blogs in particicular to face a serious credibility challenge, and I believe this must be dealt with in a direct and open manner. The WOMMA guidelines are a good start, but I think more practical and far reaching advice is also needed. I also think that we need more than a set of principles. There have to be consequences when journalists stray.”

When
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Where
CNET
235 2nd StreetSan Francisco, California 94105

Hope to see you there tonight! Sign up here…or just come on down. Oh, and thanks to Joel Sacks for helping us with the venue! And thanks to Chris Heuer for always looking ahead!

Update: Social Media Club’s Disclosure event posted on ValleyWag. Thanks Nick.

Tags:
socialmedia socialmediaclub mikearrington michaelarrington michael+arrington techcrunch ehtics disclosure blogging blog blogs chrisheuer, womma, ValleyWag