Josh Catone of Read/WriteWeb:

Blogging is still in its relative infancy and bloggers are still struggling to figure out when and how they should disclose potential conflicts of interest in an ongoing effort to gain legitimacy and garner respect from readers and other media producers.

The brouhaha stems from new video blog Webb Alert not disclosing its connection with advertising network Federated Media.

But what’s the big deal? Advertising and media have always been “friends,” you know.

Example:

Blogger “A” writes a review on this new gadget. The manufacturer loved the review and sends him a gift. He keeps on writing “praise releases” about the company’s products. Blogger “A” becomes a paid hack.

Blogger “B” blogs about this company, who invites him/her on a junket. They build a relationship; Blogger “B” becomes a PR person and may even become an moonlighting employee.

855 views This entry was posted on Sunday, August 5th, 2007 at 1:36 pm and is filed under Cover Page, Internet, Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.