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Roadmaps Round-up -Sept. 15

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It’s been a while, so for new readers: a Roadmaps Round-up is a bunch of interesting stuff that I’ve found online that I’m not going to have time to blog about before it gets really old.

Two interesting posts from Shel Holtz. A speech by Mary Hodder on blog search engines and an item about an analysis of online newsrooms done by IBM Spain

From BlogWrite for CEOs: two resource posts, one about corporate blogging and the other blogging 101

From Desirable Roasted Coffee: Is your prose gender confused? Just read it, I can’t begin to do it justice. Allan does a much better job.

From Diva Marketing, news of Chrysler’s "for media only blog" The Firehouse. As I said in my comments to Toby’s post, doesn’t Chrysler PR already know how to engage the media. Why create an exclusive blog, in complete opposition to the spirit of blogs as conversation? Dumb move. As I said in my comment, I can hear the backfire from here.

Update: Both Shel Holtz on the most recent Hobson & Holtz Report and Toby Bloomberg on the Diva Marketing blog explain that media-only websites are common practice in the auto industry, so the Chrysler Firehouse blog is simply an extension of an existing practice. Still — I have to wonder why a blog? It seems unlikely that reporters are going to engage in quasi-public conversation with Chrysler that WILL be overheard by other journalists. They like exclusives too much. As a result, it seems to me that the blog will be more of a one-way communication from Chrysler. In which case — why a blog? Don’t they already have vehicles to reach out uni-directionally to the media? Like their media website… I also agree with Toby (and had posted in the comments of her previous post on the subject) that it is unwise and a bit silly to publicly promote a blog that will have a restricted, private registration. It’s like telling everyone you have a great club that they’ll want to join, and then turning them away at the door because they don’t "fit." Just invite the people who qualify and be done with it. And be clear that the blog is restricted to a certain membership and define it publicly, up front. End update.

From Micropersuasion: interesting post on how to find a blogger’s "beat" using data from Technorati

Blogher takeaway: Blogs need a Code of Ethics

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One of the sessions I attended at Blogher was a birds of a feather discussion of citizen journalism. As I sat there, listening to all the various points of view on whether bloggers are journalists (and full disclosure, I believe the answer is sometimes but not always, some but not all), I had one of those “aha” moments.

One of the things that distinguishes professional journalists from bloggers – “citizen reporters” – is the journalism code of ethics. For an example, check out the LA Times code of ethics (pdf).  Bloggers typically don’t have a published code of ethics on their blogs.

When I started this post, I expected to find that professional journalists and other communications professionals would have something like a code of ethics on their blogs. But for the most part, you won’t find an explicit code of ethics on a typical weblog, no matter who writes it….

Yet, it occurs to me that such a code of ethics on a blog would go a very long way to establishing the sort of credibility that bloggers need and crave.

Now, thinking back to the spring, I recall some discussion that we try to establish a blogging code of ethics. A single code of ethics to which all subscribe. Nice idea, but it isn’t going to fly. We don’t live in a utopia or a single worldwide dictatorship. We won’t ever be able to reach that level of agreement among ALL bloggers. And such centrality is in direct opposition to the spirit of the Internet and blogging —  a decentralized place that smashes barriers to participation.

But an individual code of ethics on a blog… A description of the blogger’s values and the “rules” by which she writes her blog… That would be a VERY good thing for all blogs.

Yet, I really haven’t seen too many codes of ethics published on blogs – even on the blogs of people who are deep into the discussion of citizen journalism.

Here are a few “code of ethics”–like things I’ve found (and this list is by no means exhaustive – please send me any other examples you find!):

In his about page, Steve Rubel of Micropersuasion offers the following disclosure:

Disclosure:
I work for CooperKatz & Company. Everything here, though, is my own personal opinion and is not read or approved before it is posted. Occasionally, since this is a personal blog, my company and its clients will be referenced. However, these postings are in no way any part of any PR program nor an attempt to influence reader opinions. Currently, I am working with the following organizations: The Association of National Advertisers, simplehuman, Vespa, the Kauffman Foundation, NYU and Topix.net.

Jeremy Pepper offers a Comments Policy on his main blog page:

This is not a public forum, this is My Blog.

This is very much my personal place. Please act as if you were a guest in my home, and I will treat you as one.

Opposing views are welcomed.
I will, however, delete your comment if you descend into personal attacks, excessive profanity, mouth-foaming hatred, or other such immature behavior that I deem unacceptable in my home.

Please craft your contribution accordingly.

Jay Rosen, PressThink has a pretty extensive Q&A on his blog which functions to some degree like a code of ethics, but it isn’t labeled as such.

The closest things I’ve found to an explicit code of ethics:

The Citizen Journalist pledge at Bayosphere, the new venture of journalist Dan Gillmor:

Citizen Journalist Pledge
By submitting this form, I agree to be accurate, complete, fair and transparent in my postings on Bayosphere. My work will be my own, created by me and/or in collaboration with others. I will operate with integrity.
I work in the community interest.
As a citizen journalist, I report and produce news explaining the facts as fairly, thoroughly, accurately and openly as I can.
* Fair: I’m always listening to and taking account of other viewpoints;
* Thorough: I learn as much as I can in the time I have, and point to original sources when possible;
* Accurate: I get it right, checking my facts, correcting errors promptly and incorporating new information I learn from the community;
* Open: I explain my biases and conflicts, where appropriate.
I may also provide reviews (such as a critique of a movie or book) and commentary with a point of view based on facts, but I will have no significant financial or otherwise direct connection (membership, affiliation, close relationship, etc.) with an interested party.
If I do have such connections, I’ll disclose them prominently, and my work may be labeled and/or categorized appropriately.
I agree, as an active member of this community, to help uphold the integrity of this pledge by challenging and reporting inappropriate postings or abuse.

And Hill & Knowlton, the PR agency, has an explicit code of practice on its blogging community :

* I will acknowledge and correct mistakes promptly
* I will preserve the original post, using notations to show where I have made changes
* I will never delete a post
* I will not delete comments unless they are spam or off-topic
* I will disclose conflicts of interest (including client relationships) where I am able to do so
* I will not publish anything that breaches my existing employment contract
* I will distinguish between factual information/commentary and advertising
* I will never publish information I know to be inaccurate
* I will disagree with other opinions respectfully
* I will link to online references and original source materials directly
* I will strive for high quality with every post – including basic spellchecking
* I will write deliberately and with accuracy
* I will reply to emails and comments when appropriate, and do so promptly
* I will restrict my posting to professional topics
* I will write on a regular basis, at least once each week

Well, here’s my code of ethics for Marketing Roadmaps:

Marketing Roadmaps is my opinion, based on my experience.  Your mileage may vary. I will be respectful of my readers’ views, and expect the same courtesy.

  • When I have an opinion, I will be completely clear about it. You won’t have to guess.
  • I won’t delete posts unless the content proves to be completely off base, in which case I will leave a placeholder that explains what happened so search engines won’t perpetuate any mistakes I have made. Typically I will annotate the original post with new material rather than delete the post.
  • I will not blog information learned offline or in private conversations unless I am absolutely certain that it is public information or I have obtained permission from the person who shared the information. When in doubt I will err on the side of caution.
  • I will not delete comments unless they are spam or off-topic. Ditto trackbacks.
  • I will link and trackback to other blogs appropriately, and always endeavor  to add to the conversation.
  • I will say thank you, replying to emails and comments promptly and pleasantly, even when I disagree with you.
  • I will be honest about my clients and relationships so my readers will understand my loyalties.

This code of ethics will be posted on my About page.

Where’s yours?

Blogging workshop & Anonymous Blogging

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Yesterday I did my first "To Blog or Not to Blog" workshop for a PR agency in NYC. It went quite well from all reports (whew!). The workshop is about 3-3.5 hours long, and basically covers Blogging 101 and how blogs and new media fit into the marketing communications plan.

What I’d like to do is convert this into an ongoing product, and the idea I have is a full day workshop, with the first half of the day devoted to Blogging 101, for up to 15 students, and the second part of the day  (one or two) two-hour hands-on workshop(s) for no more than 5-6 students to actually go through the exercise of evaluating a blog as part of the specific MarCom plan for a company, and then developing the mission and plan for the blog. In effect, teaching my students how to fish.

I think this would be very useful for mid-size companies and PR/marketing agencies who want to get into blogging, but just don’t know where to start. I would love your feedback on the idea, and referrals of interested companies would be even better 🙂

Okay. Shameless self promotion period is now over.

My next topic is anonymous blogs. During yesterday’s workshop, one of the students asked about the credibility of anonymous blogs. Basically, she asked, how can an anonymous blog be a credible source of information?

The answer to this truly has multiple layers. It is of course the reader who makes a determination about credibilty, and that’s true whether the blog is anonymous or not.

Am I going to trust the content of the blog?

We make this determination based in part on "how right" the blogger we are reading has been in the past. We also factor in the nature of the information — how critical is it that our information be 100 percent correct. Finally, we look for endorsements — other bloggers we know and trust, trusting this blogger. These things ALL factor into our trust equation whether the blog writer is identified or not.

But is there a difference with anonymous blogs? I think the answer is a resounding YES! If a blog is anonymous, we need additional validation that it is okay to trust this blog. The more critical the issue, the more validation we need. In fact, for some really high stakes issues like our health, there may never be enough validation to trust an anonymous blog. When someone is giving you health advice, you need some solid indices that it is okay to trust them.

Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson have been discussing the issue of anonymous blogs on the last few issues of For Immediate Release — their comments are well worth listening to.

My take? The nature of the content really dictates whether you will trust an anonymous blogger. If the issue is fairly trivial, like what shoes should I buy for the fall, the fact that Manolo the Shoe Blogger is both anonymous and a character doesn’t matter. I just like that Zappos usually gives you expedited shipping even when you order ground.

If the issue at hand is critical, and you are looking for validation, assistance, data to inform your decision, I truly do not believe an anonymous blog can generate adequate trust. You need to know WHO, and I’m not sure if even the sponsorship of a valued, trusted organization is enough to extend that trust to an anonymous blogger for a high stakes decision.

By all means, blog anonymously if you want to share your life and experiences. There are many valid and important reasons why people might want to blog anonymously

But, if you want you opinion to really matter — if you believe that your opinion on an issue mght make a difference, you really need to step up to the plate and stand for your opinion.

People will want to know who you are.

Catching up, client news

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Work has beckoned this week, leaving the blog pretty much in the dust. I’m on vacation in Bar Harbor Maine next week, and hopefully will be inspired by the shore to post!

Do have two small items. First, a newsletter reader found the research I referred to in my podcast post a few weeks ago — about the retention of things read, heard and seen. The specific info is on page 4 column one of this article. Thanks again Steve.

And last, I’ve started a blog for my Client News — press releases, news items and the like from my clients.

Short-take, blogher

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Lots in my head, still, from blogher, but have just been knee deep in client work (this is a good thing!) Will get to it this weekend…I hope!

In the meantime:

Thanks to Toby Bloomberg, Christopher Carfi, Jeff Clavier and Yvonne DiVita for the recent mentions in their blogher posts. If I missed anyone else, apologies. Right now, I’m pretty much working off of trackbacks. No time even for ego-surfing 🙂

Special thanks to Elisa Camahort, Jory Des Jardins and Lisa Stone for a terrific conference.

FInally, Jane… I have a new pic on my About page! Thanks for the kick in the pants to update it so it actually looks like me circa 2005!