It’s an interesting list. I especially like number 11: ” We would never publish lists of 10. They’re a prop for lazy and unimaginative people.” Here are some other parts I liked:
We would encourage comments and forums, but in moderated spaces that a) encouraged the use of real names and b) insisted on (and enforced) civility. Comments from people using verified real names would be listed first.
We would refuse to do stenography and call it journalism. If one faction or party to a dispute is lying, we would say so, with the accompanying evidence.
A core mission of our work would be to help people in the community become informed users of media, not passive consumers — to understand why and how they can do this. We would work with schools and other institutions that recognize the necessity of critical thinking.
All valuable additions to the ongoing conversation, I think.
Oh, now those are funny. Not the list items themselves, but the idea that any publication that followed this would be able to stay in business. (I’d add #12: “Just because the publisher or the assistant editor has Fat Elvis’s physique, Buddy Holly’s glasses, and Phil Collins’s hair do NOT make him a rock star. Any editor, staffer, or freelancer who throws tantrums if a public official or local celebrity isn’t familiar with the perp’s particular brand of fishwrap, particularly if it’s a public tantrum within the paper, will be tied to a tree and publicly flogged for ten minutes with a garden hose. Any film, music, or television critic who makes demands for freebies in exchange for positive reviews, and then specifically slams the venue or individual because freebies were sent will be shot in the face.)
I actually agree with most of this list.
I like most of the list, but #2 gives me pause. When does crowdsourcing become “digital sweatshops”?
Here’s a few valuable reads on the same topic.
Clay Shirky: “Newspapers and thinking the unthinkable”
http://www.shirky.com/weblog/2009/03/newspapers-and-thinking-the-unthinkable/
Ethan Zuckerman: “Accountability journalism and new media”
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/010550.html