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March 10, 2007BELTWAY BLOGROLL
The Shills Of The Blogosphere
The Los Angeles Times yesterday called attention to bloggers who take money to promote products and services ranging from movies and drug clinics to cameras and diamonds. Two prominent bloggers condemned the practice in the article:
"The problem is the advertisers are trying to buy a blogger's voice, and once they've bought it they own it," said Jeff Jarvis, a City University of New York journalism professor who writes about technology at BuzzMachine.com."PayPerPost versus authentic blogging is like comparing prostitution with making love to someone you care for deeply. No one with any level of ethics would get involved with these clowns," said Jason McCabe Calacanis, an entrepreneur who co-founded Weblogs Inc., a network of blogs that includes popular technology site Engadget.
The Federal Trade Commission is on the watch, too:
The FTC noted in December that ties between word-of-mouth marketers and their "sponsored consumers" must be disclosed, and that it would be on the lookout for deception. Soon afterward, PayPerPost for the first time required bloggers to disclose their sponsored status, although participants were allowed to pick their method of doing so.Mary Engle, associate director of advertising practices at the FTC, declined to comment on PayPerPost or its rivals, other than to emphasize that sponsorships must be "clearly and conspicuously" disclosed. "It's important for the consumer to understand who is behind the message they're hearing," she said.
Dan Gillmor of the Center for Citizen Media added his criticism of sponsored blogging to the center's blog.
"The bloggers obviously don’t consider themselves journalists," Gillmor said. "But they are pretending to do something that resembles journalism. So they don’t get a pass from me. They shouldn’t get one from any of their readers. I consider the companies in this business -- the ones paying the bloggers -- repellent. They are media polluters."
Posted by Danny | 07:10 AM
