This Bike is a Pipe Bomb photo by Jeff Moser / Bike Carson on Flickr

Public relations’ Code of Ethics serves as a viable reminder for being honest not just in your professional life, but for life in general. Honesty, the free flow of information and accuracy serve as valuable credos for personal and businesses relationships.

Nothing exemplifies this more than the ongoing hubbub about appropriating content from other sources. Taking content from someone else for your blog, or other use, and not crediting the original source is a clear violation of PRSA’s Code of Ethics, yet far too many people do it.

Me included. Looking back on past posts, I have strived to cite sources as much as possible, but when it comes to mainstream news outlets, I have played loose with the ethics, mainly in using photos from the Associated Press or other global news outlets for my own posts.

While it can be argued that such use falls under the Fair Use doctrine – which is a considerable point, as Rogers Cadenhead knows too well from his noted controversy with the Associated Press – using such content without crediting the original source is clearly wrong.

I’ve fucked up. More than once. I know better too but I’ve been careless. From here on out, if I cannot find a suitable image to use for my posts, I will credit the original source if I use an image from elsewhere. If a concern is raised about even using the image, I will remove it. (Most, I’ve learned, are more than happy to see their content referenced, cited and even republished, which is a part of what being networked is all about.)

Another element to misappropriating content is taking it, using it without attribution and then claiming it as your own. This is what FOX News has done to Carson City, Nevada blogger Jeff Moser, which he just discovered.

Jeff writes about the bike culture in Nevada’s capital, Carson City. Jeff is a long time friend and he, to me, exemplifies citizen journalism or niche blogging. More importantly, he uses his blog not only to convey relevant and up-to-date information, but to connect with real people in real life and, in general, to improve the quality of life in Carson City.

One day Jeff noticed a bike parked at a coffee shop with a sticker that read, “this bike is a pipe bomb.” The sticker is actually the name of a punk band that apparently is put on bikes all over. Jeff took a picture of the bike and posted it on Flickr where it’s licensed under Creative Commons, which means anyone can use it but they must give credit to the original source.

Months later Jeff did a search for the image, and what he discovered resulted in a new blog post: FOX News used the image for a news story without given credit to Jeff. It also later claimed the image as its own by watermarking the image with its own logo.

While bloggers must keep out own ethics and houses in order, so too must the news media.

I am not hopeful for any kind of public outcome for Jeff, other than some snarky comments on his blog and a little bit of online hype. The reason is this: While PR folks – and really, people in general — should be prepared apologize, or acknowledge wrongdoing, the news media business must also do the same. The problem is that too often, it doesn’t.

The same day Jeff posted his “No Spin Zone” story, a local columnist posted this, where he details news business advice he once received: “Never explain, never apologize.” (The columnist, to his credit, selectively ignores the advice.)

Let us hope that as news businesses are forced into radically transforming their operations, part of what is left behind is the “never explain, never apologize” attitude.

[NOTE: I emailed the myFOX Mephis reporter who originally reported the story using Jeff's image and requested comments and aswers to questions. I will update this post with her reply should it be received.]