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Al Jazeera's Outreach To Bloggers

If Al Jazeera invites dozens of bloggers to the Middle East in order to cover a forum that is designed to promote the Arab television station, should those bloggers: a) take the free trip, or b) disclose the freebie to their readers if they do?

The questions are not rhetorical. Al Jazeera held just such a forum earlier this year, and according to Alvin Snyder at the University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy, "at least 100 blogger-delegates had all travel and accommodation costs covered, courtesy of their host sponsor." Few of them disclosed that fact to their readers, Snyder wrote in a piece titled "The Ethical Dilemma of Blogging."

Snyder contacted me for his story because of my recent coverage of a similar trip that several bloggers took under a contractual arrangement with the Netherland government's tourism board. In that case, bloggers must disclose the trip, but I argued (and still believe) that bloggers who cover government affairs never should have accepted the trip in the first place. Plenty of people, especially the bloggers who are taking the trip to Amsterdam, disagreed.

Snyder's piece looks at the ethics of both trips in the context of a broader debate about blog and journalistic ethics. He has some interesting details on the Al Jazeera forum, including the fact that BBC and most other mainstream media chose not to attend the session, and I recommend the piece. If you are so inclined after reading the story, please share your thoughts, pro or con, in the comments section for this entry.

Posted by | 12:53 PM

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Tracked on March 14, 2006 10:38 AM

Comments

I say disclose all pertinent facts and let the reader make up his own mind.

Jaime | 03.10.06 03:26 PM

I would take a free trip to Qatar in a heartbeat, regardless of politics, and I'll be a good guest and do anything I can to promote the ideals of a free press. That would be great.

Jon Lester | 03.10.06 04:50 PM

Most MSM enterprises claim unbiased reporting (wink wink) so junkets are no no's. Most bloggers are outspoken opinion peddlers and don't carry the baggage. But a small asterisk is a fine credibility enhancer.

SeaBix | 03.10.06 05:31 PM

Answer,
Yes, to find out what the propaganda looks like.
Yes, the trip should be mentioned along with the arrangements and any conditions.

Mike H. | 03.10.06 07:31 PM

Yes go but dis close all. Not accepting such an offer could suggest a lack an open mind to issues. Report facts for readers to digest then do opinion.

demonsurfer | 03.11.06 01:32 AM

They should absolutely go, without hesitation, so long as they were sure of their own sfety. Their only moral and ethical obligation is disclosure--period.

What matters is honesty and transparency. The rest is fuzzy-headed nonsense.

Dean Esmay | 03.11.06 01:33 AM

I say there's nothing wrong whatsoever in accepting a free trip, even if it's apparently to be used by the host to further their propaganda. Just keep the reporting honest, accept no favors, keep your nose clean, and all will be well. The choice of disclosure is also up to the individual with no external compulsory edicts imposed. But keep in mind that lack of disclosure will taint the credibility of any future blogs about Al Jazeera, especially if they're positive in content.

Randall Silverman | 03.11.06 11:28 PM

Prof. Marc Lynch, who actually attended the conference unlike Snyder says he thinks there may have been 6-10 bloggers and has no idea where Snyder got his numbers. He has a number of posts that seriously call into question Snyder's credibility.

http://abuaardvark.typepad.com/abuaardvark/2006/03/s_for_snydetta_1.html

rashad | 03.13.06 10:15 AM

Most countries (and many companies) offer fact-finding trips to journalists, intellectuals, opinion-makers. The US does it; Israel does it; the UK does it; Japan does it. It goes by the name of Public Diplomacy when countries do it; PR when companies do it.

While some of the "hosts" view this as an opportunity to spin their stories unbelievably (viz. Saddam Hussein pre-Desert Storm, or pre-Operation Iraqi Freedom, for that matter), most view it as an opportunity for opinion-makers to gain unmediated experience of the place. I know when I was running such programs for the USG, we believed that America and Americans could better speak for themselves than any amount of published materials. And, in almost all cases, it did.

When you visit a brewery, Hershey's plant, even job fairs aimed at high school or college students, the same thing is going on. Companies are spending their money to influence publics.

Most of the major media these days have become highly allergic to such programs, though. Especially when it concerns foreign countries, the head offices refuse any amount of "gift giving" and insist on paying every penny of their bill. They even refuse to be treated to a lunch by USG officials in order to ensure their appearance of probity.

I've always found it a bit odd that newspapers believe their opinions can be swayed by the cost of a lunch, but that's they way they play it.

I see no reason why bloggers can't accept trips like these, so long as they acknowledge publicly who pays the bills. They can leave it to their readers whether or not the bloggers are so cheaply bought.

John Burgess | 03.13.06 11:42 AM

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