adventures in blogging: ethical considerations

8/9/2019 Adventures in Blogging: Ethical Considerations

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Nigel Swaby801-634-4950

A Swaby Online Mediacompany



Originally presented«

September 2008 at

The University of Utah



Nigel Swaby



Fact Checking & Accuracy

Your responsibilities as a blogger



Adventures in Blogging

Ethical considerations



Why Focus on Accuracy?

The line between journalism and blogging

has grown very thin.






2004 was the break out year for blogging.






2004 was the break out year for blogging. The 2004 presidential election cycle took

blogging mainstream.






2004 was the break out year for blogging. The 2004 presidential election cycle took

blogging mainstream.

Bloggers were issued press passes to theconventions.



Bloggers Obtained Influence«officials said whoever gets credentials will have the same

opportunities to cover the four-day event that journalists

enjoy.

"We want to treat them just the same as other reporters,"

said Mike Liddell, the convention's director of online

communications.

"We're even planning to do a breakfast for them the first day

of the convention."

The Republican Party recently decided that it will also give

bloggers credentials for its convention later this summer.

Washington Post 07/25/2004



Bloggers Became Recognized

Mr. Graff, 23, may be the first blogger in the short history of

the medium to be granted a daily White House pass for the

specific purpose of writing a blog, or Web log.

A White House spokesman said yesterday that he believed

Mr. Graff was the first blogger to be given credentials.

New York Times ± 03/07/2005



Blogging Produces Results!



Positive«F ive years of blogging has brought Jeff Ooi a measure of

notoriety. His biting posts on Malaysian politics sparked

police investigations.

A pro-government newspaper sued him for libel. A prominent

politician compared bloggers to monkeys in a lawless jungle.

In January, as Malaysia braced for national elections, a new

banner went up on his blog (www.jeffooi.com): Get a Blogger

Into Parliament. F ueled by donations and manpower, Mr. Ooi

easily defeated a ruling-party candidate to win a

parliamentary seat on Penang Island.

Christian Science Monitor ± 8-28-08



Negative«

The federal agency insuring bank deposits learned that it can't

afford to ignore the blogs following its seizure this month of

IndyMac Bank, the largest bank failure since the 1980s.

"The blogs were a bit out of control," Sheila Bair, chairman of

the F ederal Deposit Insurance Corp., told the SanF ranciscoBusiness Times after a speech in San F rancisco this week.

That's putting it mildly. F ollowing the F DIC's takeover of

IndyMac on July 11, widely followed blogs were speculating on

bank runs on some of California's largest banks based on

nothing more than people waiting for their branch to open or large deposits moving between financial institutions.

The F DIC plans to pay closer attention to the blogosphere in the

future.

San Francisco Business Times ± 07-21-08



With Influence Comes

Responsibility



Freedom of Speech TrumpsJournalism Standards

Bloggers can write just about

anything without sufferingrepercussions.



Housing Panic Blog

Regularly attackspublic figures in thereal estate industry.

Writes things like:angelo mozilo is going to jail, angelo mozilo isgreed, angelo mozilo issatan, angelo mozilomortgage fraud, henry cisneros should go to jail



Thousands of Free Speech

Based Blogs Exist They¶re all over the world





They cover every topic






They¶re cheap and easy to set up






They¶re cheap and easy to set up

They allow anonymity



Anonymity Will Determine

Risks Taken on a Blog



Anonymity has itsadvantages«



But accuracy will retaincredibility.



Calculated Risk Blog

San FranciscoChronicle

New York Times CNN Money

Seattle PostIntelligencer

Conde Nast ±Portfolio.com

Business Spectator ± Australia

MSN Money




Who are they? Calculated Risk: a

senior executive,retired from a publiccompany, with abackground ininvesting, financeand economics.

Tanta: Tanta is aformer bank officer and mortgagelending specialistwho is currently onextended medicalleave.



2010 Update



2010 Update

Tanta died«



2010 Update

Tanta died«

And outed her co-blogger.




Who are they? Calculated Risk:

Calculated Risk , was

started in early 2005 by a

retired technologyexecutive named Bill

McBride. The housing

market was soaring, but

Mr. McBride sensed that

the industry was about to peak, and he posted

articles and data that

made his case.

Tanta: Doris Dungey



Non-anonymous Bloggers

Must«



Non-anonymous Bloggers

Must«

Determine the purpose of their blog.



My purpose«

Educate Develop Business

Develop Contacts

Advertising Revenue Test SEO

Create Book Content



Accuracy is Important

Whether you¶re a blogger or a

journalist.



Journalists Get it Wrong

Too« ³All-day loans´ ± Washington Post




Too« Freddie Mac, for instance, no longer finances no-money-down mortgages, nor

does it continue to buy or guaranteemortgages given to people who have failedto document their finances. Fannie Mae haswithdrawn from the market for all-day loans,

which are considered risky because they

require less documentation than traditionalprime loans.




Too« ³Steve Jobs Obituary´ ± Bloomberg

News




Too«

My demise has been greatly

exaggerated«



A Bloggers Approach Can

Determine the Level of Accuracy

Some cut and paste mainstream media






Some cut and paste, but addcommentary or insight






Some cut and paste, but addcommentary or insight

Some write original material



Risks Bloggers Face byPublishing

Credibility




Credibility

Libel Suits




Credibility

Libel Suits

Inaccuracy




Credibility

Libel Suits

Inaccuracy

Hurting Innocent People



Bloggers Must Come Up With

Their Own Set of Ethics



CASE STUDIES

A Practical application of ethics inreal life.



CASE STUDYCasey Serin



Casey Serin

A young man who tried his hand at realestate flipping, using all the wrong

methods.



Casey Serin

A young man who tried his hand at realestate flipping, using all the wrong

methods. I was made aware of him throughHousing Panic blog and the SanFrancisco Examiner.



Casey Serin

A young man who tried his hand at realestate flipping, using all the wrongmethods.

I was made aware of him throughHousing Panic blog and the SanFrancisco Examiner.

I contacted him directly to do aninterview from his perspective.



Casey Serin

He didn¶t tell me he had done aninterview with USA Today.



Casey Serin


My interview series came out after hehad picked up a number of critics,Serin calls haterz.



Casey Serin


My interview series came out after hehad picked up a number of critics,Serin calls haterz.

Writing about this story relied on MSM

articles and my personal contact withhim.



Casey Serin ± Ethical Choices

Publishing ³tips´ sent to my email





Publishing private emails between

Casey and myself.





Publishing private emails between Caseyand myself.

Ultimately I chose to remove his story frommy real estate blog, but I created another one«www.donthatecasey.blogspot.com



Casey Serin ± Considerations

Recognition/Prominence

USA Today article C/net ± DHC



2010 Update

Serin sold his popular blog for $50,000



2010 Update


Funds went to pay debts



2010 Update



His supportive wife divorced him«after he took a surprise trip to Australia



2010 Update




His own family declared bankruptcy to

avoid foreclosure on the family home



2010 Update




His own family declared bankruptcy to

avoid foreclosure on the family home Serin reappears on a consistent basis with

harebrained Internet schemes



CASE STUDY

Zareh Tahmassebian



Zareh Tahmassebian

A young man who tried his hand at realestate flipping and was highly

successful.



Zareh Tahmassebian


successful. When the bottom dropped out in Las

Vegas, he moved on to Phoenix.



Zareh Tahmassebian


successful. When the bottom dropped out in Las

Vegas, he moved on to Phoenix.

Profiled in Fortune magazine, I was jealous reading about him.



Zareh Tahmassebian

I had a hard time figuring out how hedid it.



Zareh Tahmassebian


I wrote a piece about him usingexisting articles and public recordsconcerning his real estate relatedlicenses.



Zareh Tahmassebian


I wrote a piece about him usingexisting articles and public recordsconcerning his real estate relatedlicenses.

A few months later, I got a privatephone call from a burned investor.



Zareh Tahmassebian ± Ethical

Choices Publishing unsubstantiated information

to get a ³scoop´ on the MSM.



Zareh Tahmassebian ±

Considerations Protecting the subject from a bitter ex-

business partner.





business partner.

The source didn¶t want to go after himpublicly.





business partner.

The source didn¶t want to go after himpublicly.

I didn¶t have enough information to geta second source like public records for the notice of default.




Considerations Eventually, the Arizona Republic

³broke´ the story.



2010 Update

Zareh lost all his remaining homes toforeclosure.



2010 Update

Zareh lost all his remaining homes toforeclosure.

The last I heard, he was working a lowwage call center job.



CASE STUDY

Riverbottoms Scandal




A mortgage fraud scheme that usedindustry insiders to defraud lenders,

individuals and Utah County of millionsof dollars.




A mortgage fraud scheme that usedindustry insiders to defraud lenders,

individuals and Utah County of millionsof dollars.

It probably wouldn¶t made the news,except for this guy«



Riverbottoms Scandal ±

Dave Fox




A mortgage fraud scheme that usedindustry insiders to defraud lenders,individuals and Utah County of millionsof dollars.

It probably wouldn¶t made the news,except for Dave Fox

I covered it using MSM reports.




When more information about thedefendants became available, I didpublic records and license searches toprovide more information.




When more information about thedefendants became available, I didpublic records and license searches toprovide more information.

The accused ringleader made my jobeasy because he had a criminal past.




Brad Kitchen




After all the names were revealed and Ipublished a story about them, a sourceclose to the case contacted me.





Through this source, I was able to getinside information about some of thedefendants.





Through this source, I was able to getinside information about some of thedefendants.

An unindicted co-conspirator wasimplicated.




Later, a potential victim of Brad Kitchencontacted me and I shared their story.




Ethical Choices Publishing unsubstantiated information

to get a ³scoop´ on the MSM.




Considerations Publishing information that could hurt a

real person.





real person.

Not reporting information in an activelegal case.





real person.

Not reporting information in an activelegal case.

Violating the ethics of my State license.




Solutions After receiving a second email from a

different source, I publishedinformation about Brad Kitchen Ibelieved to be true.






I published a story about the co-conspirator, but left out their name.






I published a story about the co-conspirator, but left out their name.

I looked up the unindicted co-conspirator and forwarded their information to Federal prosecutors.



2010 Update

The unindicted co-conspirator survivedthe legal system«



2010 Update


But lost her appraiser¶s license for lifeand was fined $25,000.



2010 Update


But lost her appraiser¶s license for lifeand was fined $25,000.

Except for one defendant, all chargedpleaded guilty and are now serving

Federal time and are liable for hugefines.



Conclusions

Bloggers must come up with a

code of ethics to protect their reputations, accuracy and the

reputations of their subject matter.



Conclusions

Always use at least two sources beforeprinting something about a real liveperson that could be damaging.



Conclusions


If you¶re not sure, don¶t print a name,but still tell the story.



Conclusions



Always consider the consequences of

what you write.



Conclusions



Always consider the consequences of what you write.

Protect your sources.



Conclusions



Always consider the consequences of what you write.

Protect your sources.

Mobile and social media gives moreaccess to self-published ³journalism.´



Nigel Swaby801-634-4950

A Swaby Online Media

company



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adventures in blogging: ethical considerations

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