In his Ny Times Blog today, opinion columnist Paul Krugman lays out the rules for commenting on his blog…
1. Obscenity will get your comment deleted; I suspect that a fair number of commenters don’t even realize they’re doing it, because that’s the way many of us #$%^! talk these days. But think about it, and don’t waste your time or mine.
2. Stay on the topic of the post.
3. New rule, if you haven’t seen it: Nazi/Hitler references are out unless clearly relevant.
4. Get your insults right. There is, I believe, a fair bit of evidence against the hypothesis that I’m stupid. What you mean to say is that I’m evil.
I’m just wondering – referring to his arms flapping, frantic reaction to the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords – whether Mr. Krugman adheres to any rules when writing statements that have no foundation in actual truth or fact?
Less than 6 hours after the shooting occurred, in his post entitled Assassination Attempt in Arizona, Mr. Krugman brilliantly deduced – all the way from New York City, or wherever he writes his masterpieces – that the Tea Party Movement, Conservative Talk Radio, and Sarah Palin were all to blame. No where does he mention how he obtained this information, who his sources are, whether he got an interview with the shooter himself, and so on.
But somehow, this acclaimed, Nobel prize winning, national treasure was able to make these claims with no worry as to the veracity of his words.
What rules did he follow when writing his the-sky-is-falling, blame-the-conservatives rhetoric? As a opinion columnist, which is a bit looser than the technical definition of journalist, is he required to follow any rules, or is it just – blast away, make up your own facts, and see what sticks? A quick search of the web finds this from Wikipedia from the Society of Professional Journalists…
Lo and behold, journalists have rules to follow too!
There are too many to mention here, but let’s just look at the headings:
Seek Truth and Report It - Journalists should be honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.
Minimize Harm - Ethical journalists treat sources, subjects and colleagues as human beings deserving of respect.
Act Independently - Journalists should be free of obligation to any interest other than the public’s right to know.
Be Accountable - Journalists are accountable to their readers, listeners, viewers and each other.
Now, I admit, I have never been to school for journalism.
In fact, my degree is in English Technical Communication – fancy talk for someone trained to write documentation… but in writing I have to follow the same rules, use the same care, be responsible, and keep my opinion out of it.
