Employ Web standards and ethics

Law and ethics are often tied together, but there's a significant difference between the two. Legal issues are run through established tests and are administered by the courts. Ethics lie solely with you.

Granted, good ethics often keep you out of court, but the real upside of ethical standards is less obvious then a spotless libel record. Consistent application of strong ethics gives your audience the opportunity to trust you. Regardless of your size or degree of coverage, trust places you in an exclusive club. Think about the sites and news organizations you trust. Now think of your site among them. That's a nice place to be.

The best way to arrive at this trustworthy destination is to develop your own code of ethics. This code can be an informal list of dos and don'ts or, if you're so inclined, you can organize your ethics into a formal document. Either way, the code you create will serve as your site's moral barometer. When you hit rough spots, turn to your code for guidance. More times than not, it'll set you on the right path.

A host of journalism organizations and individuals have already developed codes, which means you shouldn't reinvent the ethical wheel when you create your own. You can pick and choose from the codes that have already been crafted by the Society of Professional Journalists, the Radio-Television News Directors Association, and others. Or, if you feel an organization code is too broad, you can turn to the codes developed by independent Web publishers like Rebecca Blood.

Blood uses a six-point code of ethics as the foundation for her Weblog, Rebecca's Pocket. Her code, published below, is particularly relevant for independent publishers because it's aimed at people who act as their site's primary writer, editor and producer.

Rebecca Blood's code of ethics:

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.