Principles matter, even in cyberspace

I do not think blogs are journalism. Slater's blog is written by himself and has often been a vehicle to condemn and insult.

A WHILE BACK Cameron Slater, creator and writer for blog Whale Oil, heaped derision and scorn on the Wairarapa Times-Age for its lightweight editorial coverage. Which means I'm the last person who should be exhibiting sympathy for the man during his defamation trial.

The interesting question, brought to the surface by an Auckland judge is whether Slater can be defined as a journalist, and therefore able to use the legal protections available to journalists - including revealing your sources. The judge, in the defamation trial, has said Slater is not a journalist, and therefore he needs to cough up his sources.

I'll be honest, Slater is on my top-10 list of people I wouldn't want to be stuck in an elevator with. He's not sitting at number 10. And sure, perhaps I earned his ire by the use of the phrase "blog-whore" in one of my editorials, to which he took sarcastic exception.

The distinction between blogging - citizen journalism, if you want to be nice about it - and mainstream journalism is reporters and journalists in the traditional sense are trained in checks and balances, and sound judgment. Our "reward" for this training and oversight is the protection of the Evidence Act, which allows us to not reveal our journalistic sources. The High Court can overrule this and that's when you have to make a decision on how far you take it.

I do not think blogs are journalism. Slater's blog is written by himself and has often been a vehicle to condemn and insult. Yet he is also the guy who helped break the affair story involving Auckland Mayor Len Brown.

My view is integrity comes back to basics. Any person, from a full-time journalist to some guy with a cup of coffee, an opinion and an internet connection, is still capable, as a human being, of making an agreement and sticking with it, no matter what. Slater might or might not be a journalist, but I can't fault him for holding fast to a principle. I would expect the same of any of my journalists. Slater's battle is his own. He has done things I find reprehensible, and I think he deserves to take a hit for something. But a man who stands by an agreement also deserves my grudging respect.