This week I'm at the Poynter Institute at an online ethics conference. Here's a question that's come up: How much transparency is beneficial? It's easy to say "more is better," but is that always true?
Here are three "buckets" to consider:
- Process transparency: How do we make our sausage? How do we make the decisions we make? When a reporter researches a story, how does he or she arrive at a list of sources? How are priorities set?
- Institutional transparency: What business entanglements should be disclosed, and when?
- Personal transparency: What personal details about the journalist are relevant?
If you are a reporter, or editor, how much of your personal life do you want disclosed?