Some Attempts at Ethical Guidelines for Bloggers

More on the issue of blogola and the ethical questions it raises for PR:

In searching around, I've found a few attempts by journalistic organizations to articulate ethical standards for journo-bloggers. Here are the links:

• CyberJournalist.net: A Bloggers Code of Ethics


• USC's Annenberg School, Online Journalism Review: What are the ethics of online journalism?


• Poynter Institute: Online Ethics Guidelines: The Wiki

These are all valid attempts to assert some sense of ethical order in the otherwise unruly online world. The problem is that they are all rooted in traditional journalism's values, mores and, well, traditions. Will bloggers who never spent a day in journalism school, who never spent a day in a media newsroom, yet who command audiences and attention online, subject themselves to these guidelines? And if not, what is PR's obligation to adhere to these guidelines if influential new media "journalists" do not?

Or to ask the question more broadly, what are PR's opportunity and challenges in a world in which some influential journalists adhere to strict ethical guidelines while others follow virtually no guidelines at all?