Simon Owens: The Ethics of Outing

Simon Owens sent this via e-mail, "Should a National Review writer have outed an anonymous blogger?"

Simon interviews both Ed Whelan and John Blevins. There's also a thread on Simon's post at Memeorandum.

I've already written on the Whelan/Blevins controversy, here and here. But since there's some continuing discussion, check out Jay Anderson excellent commentary at Pro Ecclesia, "An Outing in the Blogosphere":

I know for a fact that there are many times when people write things anonymously or pseudonymously that they NEVER would have written under their own names. I don't believe that to be a particularly healthy state of affairs. Quite honestly, my own personal opinion is that blogging anonymously/pseudonymously removes much of the incentive for engaging in responsible, charitable, and good-faith commentary, and, therefore, should be discouraged except for the most extreme of circumstances.

The debate continues with Jonah Goldberg on "amateur blogging," with responses from Steve Benen and The Anonymous Liberal.