i am very anti-censorship but i read an article in today’s sydney morning herald that led to a stream of thoughts.

for the most part, journalists are an ethical bunch and adhere to a code. where the areas are grey, an editor steps in and ensures that stories are truthful and conducted in a manner fitting of the publication.

in the story above, while the police were trying to safely resolve a potential suicide jumper, a bunch of kids were actually goading the trouble teen to jump. a witness alleges that the teens then took photos on their camera phones.

i don’t know of any presso or journo that would have actually done something like that to get a story, and almost certainly, the photos of a suicide would not run.

however, in this age of citizen journalism, where are the checks and balances?

i am not suggesting that these kids were goading the jumper to jump so that they could get footage, but it certainly opens the door to the possibility of exploitation for the sake of a high hitcount on your youtube/qik video.

there is no editor of the internet, and neither should there be, but how do we simply protect ethics and good taste?

there are two issues here:

• the regulation of news bloggers and
• the classification of blogs that may carry contentious content.

does legislation need to be introduced in order to prevent the coercion of vulnerable individuals, or is it covered under existing legislation?

should a blogger be subject to the same standards of review by the office of film and literature classification?

i think we need to start thinking of these things as a community before they are thrust upon us by lawmakers with no idea.