Quote, unquote: On different standards of accuracy and attribution

"The Internet was founded by a bunch of hippie libertarian nerds, and so we’re stuck with their standards, which are sometimes revolutionary and good, and sometimes encourage a problematic lack of interest in journalistic ethics. Web media often eschews accuracy, wallows in blatant conflicts of interest, and fails to follow basic journalistic procedures. And that’s all OK, mostly. The way journalists demonstrate credibility on the Web isn’t better than how they do in legacy media. It’s just almost entirely different."

-- Michael Barthel, on Salon, commenting on journalistic standards online and off that have been spotlighted by the Fareed Zakaria plagiarism schmozzle.