Jerry Fuhrman over at From on High comments on the Roanoke Times editorial blasting Raising Kaine and other bloggers “on the take” for campaigns.
Obviously full disclosure is key. While bloggers on the take from politicians are one thing, pseudonymous bloggers that are actually reporters seeding stories are quite another (and yes, they have existed in the past).
Caveat emptor indeed. The best insurance? A blog, with a name behind a good reputation, that demands full disclosure.
Transparency. Authenticity. Confinement. It’s a framework I’ve discussed before at a previous Sorenson Blog Summit, and it bears repeating over and over again. The first two are the responsibility of the author — it’s that third criteria where the reader needs to be able to take what they read for what it is, and confine the information in the package it’s presented.
The Roanoke Times editorial is worth reading, save for the fact that political bloggers truly interested in the survival of the medium need to understand that cozying up to, abetting, or imitating the hired guns only waters down the medium.
Sadly, there’s many on both sides that still don’t get it.