submit to reddit

In an effort to make the crediblity of individual bloggers more transparent, Dan Gillmor says his new citizen journalism site, Bayosphere, will institute a voluntary system called Honor Tags — “self-identification by bloggers, PR folks, enthusiasts and several other categories of writers/podcasters/etc.” A rough beta of the site, honortags.com, will go live later today or tomorrow.
“The readers get the author’s intentions up front. This is *not* meant to be a guage of quality, political positioning (it’s totally nonpartisan) or whether the postings are G-rated or pornographic,” Gillmor said today in an email to members of the Media Bloggers Association.
The tag system will include:
A. Journalist— “I’m fair, thorough, accurate, open, and in general operate with integrity.”
J-News tag: “I write and explain the facts as truthfully and fairly as I can report them. I work for the community interest.”
J-POV tag (for reviews and commentary) “I make the case for action based on the most thorough reporting of facts possible. I work for the public interest.”
B. Pro(fessional) I hold myself to high standards of: Advocacy. Honesty. Integrity. Expertise. Loyalty.
Pro-Marketing:
“I work for this respectable business. I hold myself to the following standards”
Pro-Employee:
“I write about where I work. I live up to the highest standards of transparency.”
C. Advocate/Enthusiast/Fan
“I don¹t claim to know the whole field, but I know this (person, gadget,cause) is the best. I may criticize, but I state my bias without apology.)”
D. Personal (journals, diary, grocery list etc)
“I write for myself and whoever wants to read it. If you find something of use in it, I¹m glad.”
E. Fiction
“I made (some of) it up.”
F. UnTag
“I like your tag. I don¹t like telling you anything. Figure it out or MYOFB.”