The NY Times public editor (an ombudsman for the paper) wrote about potential conflicts of interest regarding tech gadget writer David Pogue. The article describes Pogue’s many and varied activities:
In addition to his weekly “State of the Art” column in The Times, and his blog and videos on the newspaper’s Web site, and his weekly e-mail newsletter,
he appears regularly on “CBS News Sunday Morning,” CNBC and NPR. He
also entertains lecture audiences with satirical ditties on the piano —
he once aspired to be a Broadway composer — while informing them about
the latest gadgets… Pogue originated “The Missing Manual”
series of help books for the technologically challenged
I learned a lot from this article. E.g., I have always found Pogue to be informative as well as entertaining. But who knew that he’s a real entertainer?
Oh, and one more thing: did I mention (as the article did) that Pogue has two books out on Apple Snow Leopard, a product that he has reviewed for the NY Times? Hence the ethical conundrum that is the subject of the piece.
As the article says:
… The Times and other news organizations are going to
face more of these situations as journalists worried about the economic
health of their employers seek outside sources of income and as the
companies turn to independent contractors, like Pogue, for more of
their content.
That is why the brand is so important – the personal brand, as well as the publisher imprimatur. People generally respect the NY Times’ reputation as a trusted source for news. Anyone who reads Pogue knows that he’s a straight shooter.
On a related topic, the FTC is causing many to reevaluate the trustworthiness of online media as the agency mulls updating its guidelines on paid endorsements to include social media and blogs.
Kevin Grossman noted his concerns about this on HRMarketer .
The Marketing Roadmaps blog has a post on this, and is also hosting a webinar today on the topic of Blogging with Integrity that promises to shed light on what is happening and what to expect regarding FTC disclosure rules.
Although most of the focus has been on reviewers that get paid with cash and/or swag, others are getting caught up in the debate.
One prominent blogger – Anne Giles Clelland – is responding via the first ever (that I am aware of) completely transparent and legally vetted policy.
Her blog Handshake 2.0 (as her tag line says, Even online, it’s still who you know) is a forum in which businesses can promote themselves and connect with others. Although clients pay to get featured on the blog, Handshake Media is completely upfront about its model.
