Blogouve-se:
an Ethical and
Technical Guide
1- Goals
Those
who read and those who comment have the right to know what to expect- for there
is a logic underneath every blog,
and this one is no exception.
The
aim of this guide is to provide a more transparent relation with the readers.
Still, there is yet another goal. Frequently we hear that there is no ethic in
the blogsphere and therefore it can not become a
paramount. This guide wishes to be a contribution in order to change this
understanding. Obviously it is not a mere sum of ethical and deontologic
codes or journalism handbooks, and it does not need to be, because it is not
journalism - that would also be redundant, since those principles are naturally
incorporated.
2
– The object
Blogouve-se is a blog
created on the 27th of Juin 2003 as an
extension for reflection and intervention in the public space, of the book “Tudo o que se passa na TSF” (“All that goes
on in TSF”), written by the portuguese journalist João Paulo Meneses.
It
is clearly a place to express personal opinions (not news), with the purpose of
giving a contribution to a vigilant critic attitude towards the Portuguese
media and, in particular, journalism. This field is usually designated as metamedia or metajournalism. Basically
this blog consists of two electronic tools that
allow the publication online of texts and commentaries- lodged in variable
servers.
1-
Since the
beginning there has been a special, but not exclusive, interest on matters
related with radio. This is probably due to professional and affective reasons,
but also because radio, namely in
2-
This blog can lodge other tools allowed by the server, such as
archives, but also additional texts and means of improving and providing the
relation with the readers.
3-
This blog has no photographs or images directly lodged,
exception made to those that may result of the connection with other sources.
It is not a photoblog or a videoblog.
Occasionally it can include connections to audio recordings, depending on the
capacity to lodge them. Still, it is mainly a place for written contributions.
4- Blogouve-se only makes reference to
blogs which tend to produce texts about the same
subjects.
5-
There will
always be an e-mail address at the disposal of readers, and the answer to every
question is guaranteed. The answers may become public, by being published in
the blog, or remain private.
6-
In some
very special cases, and only in those, the blog will
publish personal opinions on subjects that are not related with its scope.
3-
Authorship of the texts
The
texts published in Blogouve-se are always signed.
Exceptions to this rule will happen when readers that send contributions ask
for anonymity, or whenever the identification of the author is irrelevant for
the comprehension of the text.
Third-party
credits, when known, are always mentioned.
Third-party
quotations, underlinings or cuts on the text are
always clearly signalized.
4-
The author
The
author will always be extremely careful on separating his professional
activity and responsibility from the authorship of the texts. This means that
some issues will not be subject of analysis. That will be the case whenever
there is the danger of some kind of incompatibility or lack of independence.
1-
Incompatibilities
will result of the author`s involvement as a
consequence of his professional responsibilities as a journalist. In a broader
sense they can also occur when he has access to relevant informations
related with the subject.
2-
A
declaration of interests will be made whenever the author faces a situation in
which it is reasonable to question his independence towards the subject.
3-
One of the
fundamental rights of the author is not to write!
5-
The use of portuguese
The
texts published in Blogouve-se are mainly written in
Portuguese and with the concern that the rules of the language are fully
respected.
The
exceptional use of foreign expressions will happen only when the words used
have a deficient correspondence, or no correspondence
at all, in the portuguese vocabulary.
For
instance, the author refuses the use of words such as “post” (texto), “link” (ligação) or even
“blog” (blogue).
6-
Removed texts
The
rule is never to remove a text. Any change or relevant correction will be
identified as such- “alt” and “corr” will identify
the parts of the text that have been subject of alteration or correction.
1-
A text is
not considered definitive immediately after being published. The author has
established a 15 minutes period during which the original version may be
subject of changes. This is absolutely necessary because those who publish
online frequently have to face technical setbacks.
2-
The removal
of a text is always followed by an explanation.
3-
Errors in
the text will always be corrected. If necessary, the credit of that correction
will be revealed.
4-
Another
possibility is to keep the part of the text that contains an error, but
underlined- by using the code <strike>.
7- Updated texts
A
text can be updated several times. “Act” as well as the day of the month (or
hour), will begin each new part of the text.
1-
Each new part of the text will be included as an addendum.
2-
Whenever a text, due to several updates, becomes unreadable, a new one shall be
written, mentioning, in the beginning, the address of the original version.
8-Synthesis texts
Synthesis
texts may be posted whenever a subject is object of several
contributions, produced and published during a certain period of time, and
especially when that happens in non-consecutive days. The synthesis text will
aggregate the related texts as well as the respective links.
9-
Comments
This
blog accepts anonymous, pseudo-identified and signed
comments, but it does not credit them with the same degree of importance. The
first and the second categories are accepted because anonymity may be the only
way in which some people will be willing to give their opinions and
contributions.
1-
There are
three situations that imply the removal of a comment: when the text deals with
personal questions (especially when the target is a third-party), when the only
purpose is to strip the blog, when the text is a mere
repetition of a previous one.
2-
The removal
of a comment will always be followed by an author`s
explanation.
3-
The fact
that a comment is accepted does not imply that the author agrees with its
content.
10-
Periodicity
There
is no obligation of a daily production of texts, still
the author has established the goal of publishing at least one text on every
week day.
1-
Whenever
the author can predict a long period of absence (more than three days) a
warning text will be published.
2-
If that
predication is not possible, an explanation will be given afterwords.
11-
The transitory essence of this guide
This
ETHICAL AND TECNHICAL GUIDE is a
work-in-progress. Therefore, periodic updatings of
the document will be made, and those will lead to new versions of the guide.
The development of the document will be largely due to the feedback that it
gets from the readers.
1-This
guide is “free-source” text, that may be adapted,
copied, or plagiarized by other bloggers.
Juin, the 20th 2005
(English
version on September 2005 – Obrigado Artur)