Recently, I testified in a particularly ugly child custody case. During my cross-examination, the attorney for the other side made a particular point about a blog my friend had been keeping to keep her family and friends updated. It went a little something like this...1
Attorney: Ms. T. You work in broadcasting...in JOURNALISM! Surely you must agree Ms. N's disparaging remarks made against Mr. H in her blog were inappropriate and irresponsible particularly without giving Mr. H an opportunity to present his side of the story?
Me: (laughing) No, Sir. I do not agree. Blogs are, by their very nature, personal, subjective, biased accounts of experiences and emotions. They would not be subject to the same high ethical standards in news reporting because they are not news. And if Mr. H is so concerned with presenting me with his side of the story, please, by all means, have him share the link to his own blog and I, as an avid blog reader, will be happy to oblige him.
The following is the entry for blog according to Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon:
Main Entry: blog
Part of Speech: n
Definition: an online diary; a personal chronological log of thoughts published on a Web page; also called Weblog, Web log
Example: Typically updated daily, blogs often reflect the personality of the author.
Etymology: shortened form of Weblog
Usage: blog, blogged, blogging v, blogger n
However, since this seemed to be a major point of contention and since I never know when my blog might be used against me in a court of law, here is my disclaimer:
This is MY blog. These are my thoughts and these are my works - content owned by me. This blog is not intended to be a representative of any news or journalism source. It is, with my full knowledge and intent, to present only my piece of reality as I see it, when I see it. I reserve the right to change my mind at any time about any thought I have. I reserve the right to moderate all comments 2. I reserve the right to delete any comment I don't like. I reserve the right to ramble about my side with no consideration to the other side. If someone wants to present his side, he can get his own blog3. If he wants to share the link to said blog, I'll be happy to read it at my leisure.
Thank you.
1: I honestly doubt I was quite this eloquent but this was the gist...including the laughter.
2: Anyone, including anonymous readers, are currently allowed to comment but all comments are moderated and published after review.
3: Blogs are even free.
2 comments:
That lawyer is stupid.
Indeed. Actually no, he wasn't stupid. I do, however, have a sneaking suspicion he thought I was.
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