Close Up: The EPA’s Blogging Guidelines
The Environmental Protection Agency’s blogging guidelines, “Blogging at EPA for Greenversations,” is a publicly available document that’s an interesting read. The PDF can be obtained here. We’ll take a closer look at the document after the jump.
We learn a number of things here. Not surpisingly, most posts are edited through the the public affairs office “for policy and legal issues; other editing will be very light, essentially only to correct spelling or grammatical mistakes.”
Other smart ideas:
- A posting minimum for supervisors (at least two posts a month)
- Word count requirement (200-400 words)
- No ghostwriting allowed!
- Informal, personal tone is recommended
- No mimicking news releases!
- The legalese area, here known as “Cautionary Areas”
- A checklist for blog entries
- A requirement to have at least one image per post
We also get a behind the scenes look at the EPA’s business hours commenting policy. This clear policy is laid out in a way that prevents deviations.
This document clearly sets an example for other federal agencies. Hopefully agencies will be able use and expand on this document to create their own blogs. Greenversations is an oft-cited example of a properly done federal blog here, and now we know why: these guidelines are what make it so good. Of course, it’s also an interesting blog.
Many people who would need to blog don’t come from a blogging background, and this is what will bring them up to speed. So kudos to the EPA. And keep up the good work with Greenversations, too!
