There are multiple types of disclosure listed in these guidelines, but the key to reader awareness is some common framework they can look for to understand the conflicts and disclosure practices of the site they are reading. Note, this isn’t as a replacement for the guidelines presented — but as one common framework to amplify the goals of the guidelines.

Just as the “Privacy Policy” framework provides visitors a common link/phrase to click to find the data privacy policies of a site, a “Disclosure Policy” framework is critical to match author and reader expectations about conflicts/disclosure. It makes sense for these guidelines to provide flexibility in how disclosure is handled, but that flexibility doesn’t solve the confusion for readers who visit different sites with different ways of handling disclosure.

As just one example of a rich spectrum, these guidelines don’t handle if a blogger posts about a minor competitor of a sponsor — is that a case for in-post disclosure, or is that better handled via a Disclosure Policy which lists sponsors so a reader can decide for themselves how material the competitor post is? Another example includes any sites/blogs created entirely for a sponsor — does that require in-post disclosure on every post or is that better handled via a sitewide Disclosure Policy? Some bloggers keep loaners, some give them to charity, some sell them, some return them and these guidelines mention those options, but the reader of a specific blog/site doesn’t know which policy the blogger follows — a Disclosure Policy could match author/reader expectations for such a scenario.

Therefore, there is a role for corporate blogs, personal blogs and blog outreach to incorporate an expectation of Disclosure Policies, linked from every page of a site. Therefore, I’d recommend incorporating this concept into multiple areas of the guideline:
1) Corporate blogs should have a Disclosure Policy linked from every page (sidebar/footer?), listing conflicts and how the reader can expect them to be disclosed;
2) Likewise, employee personal blogs should have a Disclosure Policy mentioning the connection, so readers can decide what weight to give all employer-related posts;
3) Third-party blogs who are contacted/contracted by corporations should also have a Disclosure Policy — again you’re not dictating a rigid way to disclose, but you are encouraging the framework so readers have a common phrase to search for on a page: “Disclosure Policy” (probably right next to the “Privacy Policy” link).

I am involved with http://www.DisclosurePolicy.org/ and welcome collaborating with BlogCouncil to promote such a framework for maximizing transparency going forward.

To the Blog Council: This would have been so so handy a few years ago as we made our first foray into blogging @ RWJF. Congratulations on publishing a very nice set of best practices. I can’t wait to see the comments and offer any specifics I might have in the future!

Best regards,
Emily Culbertson
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
posting my own personal opinions, not necessarily those of RWJF

Andy,

You’re absolutely right. We goofed on the license. I’ve gone ahead and amended it to point to the correct Creative Commons License now.

Good catch! Thanks.

Cheers,
Michael

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michael@blogcouncil.org
312-932-9000
I am a Blog Council employee and this is my personal opinion.