Citing sources is important. If original material or breaking material is posted on a blog why can’t/shouldn’t a print journalist note their source? How is this different from receiving an informed tip?

I’m not a journalist, so I don’t know the rules/ethics/etc, but it seems silly to not give credit where due simply because it was something posted on a blog.

I follow a political blog that does some original investigating into corruption scandals. Newspapers of record (WaPo & NYT) did cite his website, though I don’t recall the exact articles or citations. The same blog also began tracking a list of those Democratic representatives & senators supporting social security phase out as the Fainthearted Faction. This information was sourced in newspapers around the country, including our TNT.

Closer to home Kevin Freitas was addressing the naming issue on his blog and was cited repeatedly in the newspaper.

Please help me understand why print publications “can’t use [you] as a source.” For better or worse, credit where credit is due.

Isn’t it fun to watch – and be a part of – evolution as it’s happening?

Great post, Derek. As the TNT reporters have taken to the blogosphere, one of the awkward things they now accept is that it is OK and, in fact, encouraged to link to other sites, even if they are seen as “competition” (as in the Seattle papers).

It doesn’t happen in print often, of course. Our paper has proven much more likely to credit a local blog for a tip than another newspaper, as Kevin’s frequent ink illustrates.

The blogosphere is, if nothing else, brutally transparent. There’s no hiding so bloggers and reporters should realize that if they consistently refuse to cite sources of inspiration, they’ll get called to the carpet. If common courtesy doesn’t motivate you to give credit where credit is due, the spectable of a public “outing” probably will.

Derek:

This is a good starting point for the community. What I think will be interesting with Feed Tacoma is that several of us may spin the same story—you picked up the CEOs for Cities Report, which I then spun on our site (while crediting you and linking back to your site). So we’ll get different takes on the same issue, with appropriate linkages and references to each other.

I think FeedTacoma presents a great place for the overlap. I agree with Patrick that different bloggers may spin things differently but having related content/posts adds to a story’s flavor.

Speaking of flavor, a good example would be restaurant reviews/experiences. If I write about a place I tried out I fully encourage someone else to write about the same place from their own experience. It only lends to better info for the reader once they seek it out.

In the end, if we keep things light, enjoy writing what we do, and practice a little blogging common sense we’ll be in good shape. If someone forgets a credit link once in a while, let’s not dwell on it. Blogging isn’t my job, I don’t get paid for it so if it’s bogged down with too many “guidelines” it won’t be fun anymore.

With the review example I’m speaking more about what people write about rather than the issue of how credit is given.

It’s good to remind folks to give credit where credit’s due, true. For me, I just follow the “do unto others” rule which works pretty well.

I want blogging in the area to be a welcoming process so anyone interested in jumping into the local blogging scene won’t be intimidated by any rules or guidelines set by anyone currently doing it. The best part about blogging is how freeform it can be in how it allows an individual to express or relay something in their own voice.