Positive reviews from Poynter for NPR Ethics Handbook

My plate is too full right now to read and comment in detail on the new NPR Ethics Handbook. But since I have blogged extensively on newsroom social media policies, including NPR’s earlier guidelines, I’ll point to some good pieces by friends at Poynter whose reporting and analysis I trust:

I haven't read full NPR Ethics Handbook, but I like that @mthomps, @digidave & Bob Steele contributed. bit.ly/yQU4UU—
Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) February 24, 2012

.@jeffsonderman: NPR Ethics Handbook "doesn’t treat the Internet as a land of savages to be colonized and civilized." bit.ly/wVoii8—
Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) February 24, 2012

.@craigsilverman: NPR Ethics Handbook "points to useful tips and tools for accuracy and verification." bit.ly/A9HcFK—
Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) February 24, 2012

NPR’s Andy Carvin is traveling in the Middle East and I didn’t see a response in his Twitter feed about the guidelines. I hope he likes them and had significant input. He’s a social media pioneer and if he feels the freedom and responsibility to continue his work and continue leading the way, that’s an important measure of the guidelines. NPR should be providing guidance for more of its staffers to experiment as thoughtfully and boldly as Andy does.

Update from Andy:

@stevebuttry I wasn't one of the authors but I know my work was used to model some of the ideas in it.—
Andy Carvin (@acarvin) February 24, 2012

Update: Another person I’d like to hear from: Jay Rosen, who has strongly and thoughtfully criticized NPR as too wedded to the he-said-she-said reporting approach.

Update: Jay has weighed in:

In the new NPR Ethics Handbook bit.ly/y4O6sI an artificially balanced "he said, she said" is against the rules. Unethical, in fact.—
Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) February 24, 2012

Hear the progress? "Our goal is not to produce stories that create the appearance of balance, but to seek the truth." bit.ly/xFHfMy—
Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) February 24, 2012

To comprehend the significance of their new rules, see my post from September on "he said, she said” journalism at NPR: bit.ly/mSfKXz—
Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) February 24, 2012

Jay also added in a Twitter direct message: “I think this is a significant development. There are touches in there that show they were listening.”

I’ll try to get around to reading and writing about this myself (though I’m not optimistic; I’m several blog ideas behind, and I don’t feel much urgency to write about this with others weighing in on this). I’m glad to see positive reviews.