A Petition to Commit to Proper Blog Sourcing
Glenn Fleishman today posted a detailed explanation of how he was able to scoop everyone on Cometa Networks' recent closure. He also urged the press to follow the same unwritten rules in crediting bloggers for scoops that they do in sourcing competitors.
The unfortunate reality here, however, is that many bloggers themselves often neglect to properly credit other webloggers who break hard news through real reporting. How can we expect the press to source us if we neglect to credit the other members of our own community? Many journalists have a code ethics they must abide by. We don't.
As the blogosphere increasingly is considered a medium for legitimate reporting, those of us who are serious should begin following some basic "guidelines." For starters, I suggest we commit to making an effort to properly credit the other members of our community who break legitimate news that's not already in the public domain. They deserve the PR. If you agree, I urge you to take a moment to sign this online petition to underscore your commitment to this practice. An email address is required, but please mark it as private - I have no need for your address.
