Transparency: Walk the talk

One of the key points in David Weinberger’s Blue Hour presentation in Hamburg was transparency. And, given the recent article in the NYT and the following discussion (just to name a few: Richard Edelman, Dan Gillmor, Björn Hasse), it seems as if this point really needs to be driven home more clearly. Here it goes to everybody (bloggers, non-bloggers, baseball players and (desperate) housewives):

Be transparent.

What seems natural for academics (they have been taught) and journalists (they, too) may not be a logical consequence for others. So what are the learnings? Maybe we PR-professionals can do more than being transparent ourselves. In addition to revealing everything on our side, when reaching out to bloggers, we should remind them to reveal their sources and, if need be, their motivation. In a nice way of course, we cannot force anybody. But there will always be room for improvement on our side. I bet.

Back to transparency on blogs. Since I work for many different clients at the moment, I have to make sure to prevent conflict of interest as such, and of course to be as open as possible on my blog. I am paying attention to how other bloggers handle this issue. A great example for a "disclosure statement" can be found on David Weinberger’s site. Walking his talk. I encourage you to give it a read, because it is a great example of respect and understanding for his work, clients, blogosphere and pretty much anybody.

Now let’s all join hands and sing Kumba Yah.

Technorati Tags: pr, ethics, disclosure, transparency