Every webmaster of an awards program
will eventually have to deal with some type of ethical issue. For
example:
A good friend wants you to evaluate
his/her web site, and you're concerned about being objective --
especially when you discover that his/her site doesn't meet your
criteria;
Someone with whom you have just had a huge argument applies for
your award;
A ghastly, horrible-looking site qualifies for your highest
award;
A great site that you really want to award violates one of your
criteria and should be disqualified;
You find your award posted on a site that never applied for your
award;
The webmaster of a site you disqualified sends you an
obscenity-filled email;
You find that another awards program has copied your criteria
word-for-word.
It's a good idea to do a little
thinking about how you will deal with ethical issues before
they happen.
Simply stated, ethical behavior in an awards program means fair
treatment of everyone who applies for your award.
Everyone. You use the same rules for every
applicant. If they meet your criteria, they win your
award. If they don't meet the criteria, no award. There
should be no "hidden" or "secret" requirements that are necessary
in order to win your award. (If your criteria is specific
enough, you can eliminate a lot of problems in this area.) If
the ghastly site qualifies for your award, you give them the
award. (That doesn't mean you can't change your criteria for
the future!)
Although it's certainly not required, many awards programs choose
to post a Code of Ethics or Statement of Ethics on
their awards program site. The idea is to remove any doubt
that the applicant may have concerning fair treatment. Some
webmasters write their own ethics statement; others copy a
public-domain ethics statement and adapt it to their particular
program. (The statement originally written by Rhonda Serong, available in
the Other Resources section, is probably the most widely-used statement of
this type, but there are others available.)
You may wish to consider joining an awards ethics
organization. These are organizations especially for
webmasters of awards programs. They may offer public-domain
ethics statements, available help for awards evaluations and
mediation services for disputes. Typically, the membership
has a lot of experience in dealing with ethical issues, and they
can offer you some guidance. It costs nothing to join these
organizations. Check the Resources area for some of these
associations.
