Weblog ethics

When I first started blogging and was looking for pointers, I came upon a fine article about Weblog Ethics by Rebecca Blood, who blogs Rebecca's Pocket.  I've since seen many other favorable references to her suggested rules and commentary, which are republished from her book, The Weblog Handbook: Practical Advice on Creating and Maintaining Your Blog. 

I believe those rules are worthy of public endorsement — hence the small graphic (thank you, Rebecca!) near the bottom of my sidebar, "Blogging by the book," which is linked to her site's page on ethics.  Rebecca's commentary is definitely also worth reading, but the bare rules are:

1. Publish as fact only that which you believe to be true.

2. If material exists online, link to it when you reference it.

3. Publicly correct any misinformation.

4. Write each entry as if it could not be changed; add to, but do not rewrite or delete, any entry.

5. Disclose any conflict of interest.

6. Note questionable and biased sources.

I encourage other ethical bloggers to demonstrate their endorsement of these rules, perhaps by adding a linked button graphic to your sidebar or even just a text link.