From Mr J.R. Zammit and Mr M.A. Vella

We refer to the article The Campaign in the Blogs (TMIS, 11 November) in which you claim to have provided “sundry quotes from different weblogs regarding the coming election”. The quotes in question in fact come from one blog called The Malta Chronicle (TMC), which may be found at http://elezzjoni2008.wordpress.com

TMC is an open project consisting of a joint effort by a number of bloggers interested in observing and commenting on the current election campaign.

The role of the blogging community is in constant evolution and we foresee much greater interaction in the future between the printed media and the web. Blogs and bloggers have an increasing role in the public fora and their presence in the printed media (through quotes and cross-references) will inevitably be greater in the near future. The liberal, open and individualist manner in which the blogging society evolves will never allow it to have a spokesperson or defender – which is probably one of its main attractions.

One of the ethical principles of the blogging community is that of cross-referencing. If one is quoting or linking from a particular blog or website, then it is only natural to link to the blog/website in question. Most bloggers choose to do away with enforcing strict proprietary rights and prefer to rely on open sharing – so long as proper attribution is given to the source (in certain cases – like translation and alteration – the authors’ permission would be either required or at least a polite bonus). We have long practiced this method whenever quoting from the electronic versions of the various daily and Sunday newspapers in Malta.

We would now like to take this opportunity to request that such a practice is reciprocated whenever the content of blogs or websites is mentioned in your newspaper.

Jacques René Zammit

Mark Anthony Vella

The Malta Chronicle – Administrators