The Jenius' Blogger Ethics

[Global Voices Online. The Jenius. Janine Mendes-Franco. Thank you!]


Some time ago, I wrote about My Intellectual Honesty and concluded I deserved a B. Tough self-critic, I am. Now comes this Blogger Code of Ethics, as suggested several years ago by Charlene Li in a Forrester Research Report titled "Blogging: Bubble or Big Deal?".

Now in the spirit of My earlier self-examination, Let's tackle this one, shall We?


 1) I will tell the truth.  A. Can't give Myself an A+ because I never have all the facts and quite frankly, nobody does.

2) I will write deliberately and with accuracy. A-. I don't write "deliberately" 100% of the times (I do believe you've noticed) and nobody has 100% accuracy in what they write, even though some of Us try very hard. If I were more deliberate, I'd give Myself an A or A+.

3) I will acknowledge and correct mistakes promptly. A+. Easy, since as I mentioned before, I don't make many mistakes.

4) I will preserve the original post, using notations to show where I have made changes so as to maintain the integrity of my publishing. A. Could have been an A-, but the changes I make after posting are almost always to correct spelling (see #8, below.) Not once in 1,037 posts have I changed something to "improve" My presentation or retract what I've written. That's why I place Updates.

5) I will never delete a post. A+. See #4 above. And I've been asked to about 45-50 times.

6) I will not delete comments unless they are spam or off-topic. A+. For one, I have smart people making comments. For two, disagreeing with Me is not a problem. Most likely a mistake on the person's part, but not a problem.

7) I will reply to emails and comments when appropriate, and do so promptly. B. It's the "promptly" part where I fail to achieve excellence. I have improved, but no comment should go unnoticed for more than 24 hours; a few have exceeded that this year.

8) I will strive for high quality with every post – including basic spellchecking. B. I turned off the automatic spellchecker to force Me to read/edit/correct My posts. Worked well for about a month and then a Jenial Reader pointed out that I was making some mistakes. That and The Picky Grammar Lady not being around led Me to sloppiness. Definitely room for improvement, but I still rank at least in the 98th percentile.

9) I will stay on topic. A. My topic is "Puerto Rico," with the occasional foray into other areas. Or actually, the topic is The Jenius and I NEVER stray from that.

10) I will disagree with other opinions respectfully. F. For "Fuck that." Actually, taken as a whole, I tend to disagree with only slight disrespect, though I have outrageously gone off on a slow-witted sociologist, a (miseducation) secretary with more fat than brains and a Korean-American ex-kongresskritter who should have stayed in his kim-chi patch. Balancing that out has been My exchanges with people I know and don't, so I'll settle for a...D. For "Don't expect Me to change too much."

11) I will link to online references and original source materials directly. B. I can do better. I usually do it, but "usually" is not "always" and "always" is the only standard that matters.

12) I will disclose conflicts of interest. A+. I seldom have conflicts of interest because I choose to attack stupidity and stupid and Me don't mix. So there.

13) I will keep private issues and topics private, since discussing private issues would jeopardize my personal and work relationships.  A+. I have touched on some items that I have personal knowledge of and state so. I also discuss some personal issues, but none that I wouldn't discuss amongst colleagues or friends. Like most people, I could blog about some truly juicy stuff, but at the expense of My reputation and people by and large don't deserve to be treated that way. Others, though, are in My sights for when the timing is right--and I am a patient man--they will be discussed. At length.

Okay, adding and dividing gives Me a 3.54 average, an A- if you want to be precise about it. (And for the math teachers in Our local schools: please have someone explain to you how I arrived at that figure...)

The Jenius Report Card: A in Blogger Ethics and a B in Intellectual Honesty. Assessment: The Jenius means well, but he needs to delve a little deeper into the facts and present them more objectively. (Here comes the bummer:) He definitely has room for improvement.

Okay.


The Jenius Has Spoken.