Responsible Blogging

http://www.washingtonea.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=945:policy-for-responsible-blogging&catid=140:legal-publications&Itemid=86

I would like to discuss the issue of "responsible blogging".  The above link leads to a list that I found to be helpful.  I also found many more of those lists: with 10 things to not do in writing a blog, 15 things to remember when blogging, etc... For me, it is important to know who is the blogger (yet if they need to cloak themselves into another personality due to serious security reasons then it is OK not to reveal real name, etc.. just tell me why you are writing, objectives, etc...).  There are some excellent examples of bloggers particularly in the advocacy/human rights field that contribute greatly to the discussion of human rights, and democracy. 

Here are some examples from my world of the Middle East.
http://www.arabawy.org/blog/
http://baheyya.blogspot.com/
http://www.juancole.com/
http://www.sandmonkey.org/ 

However, blogging can also be a way to promote or pass on "mis-information" and taken at face value can cause some issues.  I was confronted once during a workshop in Egypt with a participant insisting that he read on a blog that the US Constitution determines that the US President has to be a Protestant.  It took about 15 minutes to bring up an electronic copy of the US Constitution, translate the relevant sections and convince the participant that indeed the document is silent on the issue of the religion of the US President.

I use this to illustrate that blogging while it can be an amazing informative tool. It can be a tool to even help organize people to act and advocate for a cause, yet if not used in a responsible manner (posting mis-information), it can cause some havoc.

Thanks.