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On Fri, Jan 23, 2009 at 9:23 AM, Downing, David <DavidDowning -at- users -dot- com> wrote:
> From: Bill Swallow <techcommdood -at- gmail -dot- com>
>
> It's as unprofessional to publicly attack someone's credentials as it
> is to fake your own credentials.
>
> ------------------
>
> Even if you're right?
In general, yes. Even if you win, you lose. However, some exceptions:
If the person is a candidate for public office (elected or appointed)
and you are a journalist, then it would be your professional
obligation to investigate their credentials and publicly report the
result. If the person is a candidate and you are not a journalist, you
can share your information with a journalist, who can make a
professional judgment about making it public.
If the person is a candidate for a position in an organization, and
you have a professional connection with a relevant decision maker in
that organization, then your can bring your information to the
attention of that decision maker, who can make a professional judgment
(perhaps after their own investigation). This is not exactly public,
but is not just between you and the candidate.
If the person is touting their credentials in a public forum (such as
this one) as the basis for authority or to make money (e.g., "buy my
book because I have a PhD"), then you can respond within the same
forum, as a way to reach those who might make a decision based on this
person's claims. However, this is riskiest of the exceptional cases.
You better make damn sure you are right, or you open yourself to a
libel or slander claim. The manner in which you do it can have a
dramatic impact on your professional image and reputation, even if you
are right.
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