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This case about Quez on City Science High school students supposedly criticizing their school's policies through their blogs brings to mind issues of freedom of expression and responsibility. Based on earlier reports, these four students blogged about certain policies th ey deemed "unfair." For that, they were suspended. As one student recalled:

âIt's not true that there was due process. We were asked to submit letters of apology and we thought that was it. Next thing we knew, we were susp ended for ten days,â he added.

The school reportedly submitted a recommendation that the four students be susp ended for 10 days, which was later approved by the Department of Education's di vision. Later --or after news about the suspension of these students was picked up by media, the DepEd revoked the suspension and ordered an investigation. When I was still in high school, it was unthinkable to criticize school policie s. We do discuss about such things. But they were all done privately among us, students. Back then, there was no Internet to speak of. No blogs. No social net works. Today, it's quite different, as some teachers and college professors I have tal ked to attest. Yes, some teachers know that students blog and that they are now more vocal about their feelings about school policies, subjects, and even the teachers themselves. Some teachers may find this "inappropriate." But others ch ose to tolerate it. Question is: what can teachers/principals/school official tolerate? Based on this report , the students claim they were not given due process when they were suspend ed. Also, they claim that the blogs were "private," meaning only "friends" have access to it. The report indicates that the students' blogs were allegedly critical of the sc hool principal, Dr. Zenaida Sadsad. At this point, it's hard to say whether or not the school was right in suspendi ng these students. Students do have the right to express what they feel, but si nce they were done "privately" albeit through the Internet (think of discussion s in a private mailing list that are posted in a public list), are they answera ble to the school? On the flipside, it is also apt to ask whether or not these students have gone beyond merely venting their feelings to the point of already maligning persons involved. What do you think?

Editor's Note: We're reposting this article with permission from Filipino blogger Juned Sun ido. Catch him as he blogs at B aratillo @ Cubao. +++ By Juned Sonido WITHIN a span of two years a lot of things have changed. It would seem that the blogger has entered mainstream. First, blogging is slowly being recognized as an Internet medium: Another source of news, information and opinion available t hrough the Web. Second, a lot of marketing, public relations and companies seem to be recognizing this thus the increase engagement with the bloggers through contests, events and product launches. Third, bloggers are often stereotyped or miscast as ranters or in it for the money. There is nothing wrong with ranting via blogging and nothing wrong with making money from blogging. For me its not the end all, be all and sole reason why I b log. It is more complex than that and the blogs are not a thing one can conveni ently pigeon-hole. And sure enough a lot of opportunities are opening up to bloggers. A lot are no w treated like media as they are invited to press launches and a greater number are tapped to spread the word about a certain product or bit of information. T hese are done via press launches and events. The question comes up: should a blogger avoid going to press launches and event s? It is an option that the blogger might take. Then again the blogger might also take to attending press launches and events. There are reasons why the blogger opt to go. First, in order to get fresh information or news about something--pr oduct, service and bits of news. Second, it is always a nice to develop contact s and make friends. At its most brutal, it is a way of developing a network of sources and information. At its best, one gets to meet true and genuine friends . Third, press launches and events provide the blogger the means to sample a ne w product, try a new service or preview/review a gadget. All of these contribut e or add things that we can post. The food provided, the entertainment, the raffles and the freebies p rovided are incidental to what one sees or learns from these events. Such thing s are provided to encourage people to attend these events and press launches. A ll are devices that are used to give a receptive and hopefully effective way of introducing the news or the product to the writer or blogger. Herein lies the problem of the blogger. What does one make of this? Such entertainment and hospitality displayed during such activities can be over whelming. Again it's true that one can simply not go to such events. However, i f the blogger does go to such event, what to do? Now, I can speak only for myself in this matter. And for me this courtship ritu al happening at press launches and events should not deflect the blogger from t he purpose he went there and that is to get a story. One should not feel behold en or obliged to return the favor. In the end, it is the blogger who decides: 1. Whether or not to blog about it. 2. What to blog about. If there is any person or group of persons a blogger is beholden to, that would be the readers. And this brings us to disclosure. Often times one sees disclos ure policies adopted by bloggers and their blogs and this is good. It may be be tter though if disclosures were done every time one posted. It need not be a gr andiose statement. Just a note within the post stating were you got the story o r how you came by it or how were you able to test the product or service. So will I go to events and press launches? Only if there is a story for my blog and it fits my work schedule.

OK, how many saw it coming? After getting bloggers riled, David Bullard has la unched his own official Sunday Times blog. Here's an excerpt from one his blog entries:

What a week. I write a wildly exaggerated piece about bloggers for the Sunday Times and what do I find when I return from a weekendâs sojour n? Pandemonium, thatâs what. The strange thing is that so many bloggers readily identified with the scrofulous nerd description so maybe I hit a raw wound. Th en the bloggers started responding, which convinced me of several things

1. The original article was either not read or understood;
2. Emotion trumps reason on most blogs;
3. A sense of humour is a rare commodity within the blogosphere;
4. The print media has absolutely nothing to fear from the blogosphere at the moment.

DAVID BULLARD'S recent column "Name and shame offen sive bloggers" on Sunday Times has stirred the blogosphere. Vincent Maher did not mince words, as he answered every point made by Bullard. He says:

"I hereby dub this Bullardgate. David Bullard launched an at tack on bloggers in the Sunday Times today that cannot be allowed to stand. His invective is simply not acceptable from a journalist of the calibre he cla ims to be."

Poynter Institute's Amy Gahran also highlighted this recent row, and has even pointed to more reactions from bloggers and journalists alike. She writes:

My opinion: It strikes me as ironic that Bullard wrote in his now-i nfamous column: "Unlike the world of newsprint, there are no rules out there in the blogosphere and that makes it a very confusing place." Hmmm... Looking ove r Bullard's grossly misinformed generalizations and borderline hate speech, I'v e got to wonder: Exactly which "newsprint rules" applied at the Sunday Times in deciding whether to run this particular column? Regardless of what you think of weblogs, it seems to me that bald-faced bigotry of any kind should have no place in a responsible news organization. Bullard has compared "most bloggers" to air guitars of journalism. Air guitar d escribes an act that mimics the actual playing of a guitar without the instrume nt. He writes:

Allow me to explain what I mean. I used to play air guitar with a b and called Deep Purple. My playing was perfect, I had attitude and I even smash ed my air guitar at the end of the number. The reason I played air guitar is th at I couldnât play real guitar very well so I was forced to dwell in this fanta sy world where my guitar playing meant something only to me. I should point out that this was years ago when I was still young and foolish. These days I play air tenor saxophone, which is far more challenging. Most blog sites are the air guitars of journalism. Theyâre cobbled together by people who wouldnât stand a hope in hell of getting a job in journalism, mainly because they have very little to say. Itâs rather sad how many people think th e tedious minutiae of their lives will be of any interest to anyone else. Of course, Sunday Times also featured the reactions of the bloggers in a specia l section called David Bullard and the Blogosphere. The website linked at least 15 reactions from prominent bloggers. In PR lingo, this is what you c all mileage, heh. Also, it seems that Bullard is not taking this issue sitting down. In fact, in a series of video clips Sunday Times made, it seems the columnist is enjoying t his attention.

BLOGGING is fun, but just as in the real world, sometimes you encounter unsavor y characters. Maybe it's spammers. Or trolls who want to pick a fight and leave rude comments . Maybe you've had to fend off online stalkers, or deal with impostors who pret end to be you in cyberspace. What's the worst thing you've experienced in the blogosphere, and how did you d eal with it?

TWO influential Netizens, tech publisher Tim O'Reilly and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, have called on bloggers to work toget her in coming up with a Blogger's Code of Conduct. Check out Abe Olandres' blog entry on this initiative. And here's an excerpt from a Guardian Unlimited sto ry:

While I was offline all long weekend, the blog code of conduct deba te snowballed somewhat. Web veteran Tim O'Reilly waded in to the debate hand-in -hand with Wikipedia Daddy Jimmy Wales, and between the two of them came up wit h a < font color="#006699">seven point list of standards. Needless to say, opinion seems to be ferociously divided on this. I personally see these as standards, rather than rules, and these are all opt-in. So if you don't like it, don't use it. It's about a loose a proposal as possible. How about you, what do you think of the proposed Blogger's Code of Conduct?