Mixed blessing

THE PHILIPPINE blogging community is divided over whether to draft and/or adopt a code of ethical conduct that would govern online expression. As early as the onset of this century—before the advent of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media networks over the Internet—some bloggers were already saying that the new media (any form of communication via electronic means—for example, the Internet—made possible by computer technology) are so unlike the old (print and broadcasting) in that, having empowered ordinary citizens by enabling them to express themselves, subjecting them to the codes of ethics and professional protocols that supposedly govern the old would remove that advantage. Many bloggers who upload information and/or who comment on events and issues of public interest also argue that they’re not journalists but advocates.