The Blog Herald’s disclosure and editorial statement
Duncan Riley> We’ll, its always best to lead by example on these things so I’ve today posted The Blog Herald’s Disclosure and Editorial Statement for the world to see at
https://blogherald.com/disclosure
Nothing much exciting to see here, it’s certainly no master piece and once these things get a more standard form and layout elsewhere I’ll probably end up re-writing it.
I’ve tried to cover some of the questions I occasionally get in relation to editorial. I’ve also disclosed my current advertising arrangement with the good folks over at eNewsblog, who some have noticed have booked the top banner space and a number of other spots.
I’ve also noted that my personal dislike for SixApart and Mena Trott, as a member of the MT Diaspora of 2004 does, and will continue to influence my reporting of the company, although I promise to try to be good :-)
What’s the point, you may well ask? Well this site does take money from sponsors, and I’ve recently received a free book that I’ll be writing about shortly. The often fickle nature of the blogosphere in terms of “what’s hot or not” means that one error in terms of credibility can be severely damaging for a fledgling blog/ or brand such as The Blog Herald.
I’ve always tried to be honest and upfront in relation to what I do here, but with the increased traffic many readers won’t know much about my past posts or modus operandi, so its best to be cautious and provide a disclosure and editorial statemet that discusses what goes on for all to see.
If your taking money from anyone as part of your blogging, and I’d note that although I’d say Google Adsense probably doesn’t count on this one, but BlogAds certainly does, you should consider some sort of disclosure statement in relation to your revenue and what you will and won’t do for a dollar, even if you’ll happily sell your sole for cash, it’s important that people know where you stand when viewing your content in terms of its source and credibility.