There are many ways to write a blog, some go the very personal route, telling about their everyday life, others just throw out some quick comments about recent events in politics or media and many specialize in subjects such as traveling, IT, gaming and so forth. What kind of blog you wish to have is of course entirely up to you, within the limits of freedom of speech and the letter of the law. In many cases, you rarely come accross the ethical side of publishing information, because what you publish is not very sensitive or potentially upsetting. Now, when I write the things I do in this blog, I feel I have no other choice than giving this some thought. As the name and the motto of the blog goes – Mind Over Madness.
My personal objective with this very blog, is mainly to provide a few, but consistent articles about subjects I find interesting, and the goal is to do so on a weekly basis. I love words and I love to write and I find it clears the mind and makes things easier to understand. I write, not only to explain to others my personal understanding of things, but as much to gain increased insight and understanding myself. This blog is named Mind Over Madness, and a core element in that personal mindset of mine, is expanding one’s self-consciousness and continuously trying to achieve a greater overall understanding of life, the universe and everything.
Hence, I strive for a certain dept or substance in what I produce, rather than just mindless chatter. Not because there’s anything wrong with chatter, but the Internet is already full of it and I hardly think more is needed. If I can just give one person a new idea, or a new perception, then my mission is accomplished. This is also why some of my articles are rather lengthy and perhaps challenging to read. In the end, this is probably wasted efforts, considering the media I’m working with, but still I do it ;) It is a fact that most people will only read the headlines and stop there. If they find the text even remotely boring or difficult, they will surf on to some other site.
While it is always nice if people read what you write, I could personally hardly be less worried if they don’t. Getting someone to read what you write, is a privilege, not a matter of course. The reader should be treated with respect, yet there’s a difference between respect and just giving people what they want. The really great thing about a media such as a blog, is that you, unlike a journalist working in a newspaper or in a TV-channel, can totally ignore the economical aspect. You can get a blog up and running more or less for free, only requiring some of your time. You don’t have to worry about creating content people wish to read so that they will buy your publication.
Some will argue that journalists boast high ethical standards and strong internal justice, thus ensuring their objectivity, good research and quality content. Others might counter by pointing to the fact that journalists are human beings too, they need money to live, they are employed and have ideological sentiments like everyone else. It is hardly any secret that most medias have a certain political bias that may or will affect what they publish. The blogger may have no professional background, thus no ethical standards deriving from being a professional writer. Ultimately this means, for the reader, that no less care and careful scepticism should be used when considering the validity of the utterances of a blog compared to those of a news paper.
It is my personal conviction that an author has, at least to himself, a moral responsibility to provide content he is able to defend and back up. Nothing is worse than spreading lies and wrongful accusations, and you should remind the reader that this is your perception and not necessarily “the truth”, if a truth do exist at all. I think realizing that almost everything is a matter of perspective is a good starting point for whatever you wish to write and publish. The more sensitive and complicated the subject is, the more care and consideration should you employ when writing about it.
That said, in the end, it is not the writers but the readers responsibility to discern the truth from the lies. There are too many willing to bend and twist the truth to fit their own obscure uses. Source criticism goes for this blog as for any other blog or news-source. You’ve got a brain, use it!
