Much has been made of the ethics of bloggers who receive compensation -- usually in the form of demo units and trial versions of products -- in exchange for reviewing those products, often with the implicit understanding that the review is a positive one. These questions prompted an FTC investigation, and last fall the agency revised their
formal guidelines governing endorsements and testimonials to include bloggers or other "word-of-mouth" marketers. The Interactive Agency Bureau maintains that the guidelines are unconstitutional, and is calling for the FTC to
rescind the rules as they apply to bloggers and other online outlets. The latest casualty? An intern at TechCrunch asked for a MacBook Air in exchange for a post. In the wake of this revelation, TechCrunch fired the intern and issued a
formal apology. To his credit, the intern has posted his own
mea culpa.
posted by shiu mai baby
on Feb 5, 2010 -
69 comments
Getting smart about personal technology. NYTimes publishes Sonia Zjawinski's assertion that other peoples' images on Flickr are probably OK to download, blow up and use to decorate her house:
And if you’re wondering about copyright issues (after all, these aren’t my photos), the photos are being used by me for my own, private, noncommercial use. I’m not selling these things and not charging admission to my apartment, so I think I’m in the clear. [more inside]
posted by chesty_a_arthur
on Jun 26, 2009 -
173 comments
Jon Swift asked everyone on his blogroll to pick what they considered their best post of 07--
...There are posts on politics by liberals, conservatives and moderates, posts on movies, music, television, books, economics, health care, science, sports, religion and history, personal stories and slices of life, poetry, prose, pictures and video. Some are very funny, some are quite serious, some will make you angry and some will make you say "Huh?" ...
posted by amberglow
on Dec 28, 2007 -
12 comments
Brazilian Blogger Bashing! The respected Brazilian newspaper
Estadao decided to promote its new online presence by jokingly
producing a series of ads with obvious misfits and asking such questions as "Is this the guy giving you dating advice?" and
a video (youtube) comparing bloggers to monkeys. Bloggers
are outraged "Why would you read a newspaper that compares bloggers to monkeys?".
In today's newspaper, Estadao offers no apology but instead dryly recounts the facts. Meanwhile, the resulting controversy, with thousands of blogs weighing in, has driven a lot of traffic to their new site.
posted by vacapinta
on Aug 21, 2007 -
25 comments
People of the Web --very well done short video profiles of interesting people online. Mike Rogers of
blogactive is on the front page now. Links to previous profiles are on the right, including Kirk Cameron, Caleb Shikles, Sherman Austin, and Josh Wolf.
posted by amberglow
on Jun 1, 2007 -
3 comments
Malaysian bookstore Silverfish Books recently
pubhlished a list of books restricted by the Malaysian Home Ministry (confiscated at the border by Customs) - a list that includes
Chinese teapots,
children's prayers, and
Dora the Explorer. Banned books & magazines
aren't exactly news in Malaysia; indeed, possession of said books can lead to
severe penalties, even jail time.The Opposition
has made a statement before, but that hasn't led anywhere. However, since Silverfish's list, Malaysian bloggers have had enough with the arbitrary and Kafka-esque bans and restrictions, and have come together to form
Manuscripts Don't Burn, to protest and talk about banned books and the larger issue of freedom of speech in Malaysia.
posted by divabat
on Nov 7, 2006 -
19 comments
PM of Malaysia: Those who spread untruths on the Net will be detained Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Prime Minister of Malaysia, warned all bloggers that "if information in blogs, websites and online portals were incorrect, bordered on slander, caused disturbance or compelled the public to lose faith in the nation’s economic policies, their authors would be detained for investigation". The Malaysian government is even
considering adjusting the Printing Presses and Publications Act^ to include blogs and online media.
This comes hot on the heels of a government-ordered
media blackout on
Article 11, a coalition of NGOs dedicated to upholding the principles of Article 11 of the Malaysian constitution, about freedom of religion, after
several protests claiming Article 11 to be anti-Muslim and confusing it with the now-defunct
Interfaith Comission Initiative, which aimed to be a body of people of different faiths raising awareness about diversity of religion and working together on religious issues.
Minister of Energy, Water, and Communications Dr Lim Keng Yaik said that they will
not censor the Internet (as promised when the
Multimedia Super Corridor was launched), but after events such as prominent Malaysian political blogger
Jeff Ooi being investigated over a supposedly offensive comment on his blog entry about Islam in 2005, and alternative news source
MalaysiaKini's office
raided after carrying a letter critical of the ruling party's policies in 2003, no one is really quite sure.
posted by divabat
on Aug 3, 2006 -
16 comments
Polluting the blogosphere businessweek is writing about a new company that is basically paying bloggers to write about products --- disclosure is optional...
congratulations marketers --- you ruin everything
posted by bliss322
on Jun 30, 2006 -
44 comments
Meet the Bloggers is a group of Ohio citizen journalists who have been interviewing state political candidates, podcasting the interviews and taking questions from anyone who is interested in the candidate's policies. [more inside]
posted by sciurus
on Jan 10, 2006 -
3 comments
WarIsReal Amazing reading from a fellow millitary blogger who is currently undergoing some high stress as a result of
PTSD and is blogging his prescriptions and counseling sessions.
posted by JJBotter
on May 21, 2005 -
33 comments
Remember this? It has won recognition as "Best Interactive Viral" in the
Viral Awards. With all the viral
1 and stealth
2 marketing campaigns, comment spam, astroturfing
3, and other tools that marketeers are using to infiltrate the Brave New(ish) World of blog, we sometimes forget that we also have the power to do good, so "
you know, like, reclaim the streets, or re-frame the conversation, or some damn thing". Words of wisdom from our not-so-subservient chicken.
[and, a bit more...]
posted by taz
on Mar 26, 2005 -
20 comments
Are Blogs to Blame? Tom Regan, Associate Editor of the Christian Science monitor wrote an interesting
piece referencing the latest findings of
the Feb 2005 Harris Poll showing that more and more Americans (64%) *still* think that Saddam Hussein had strong links to Al-Qaida. Tom's piece proposes that too many Americans are getting their "news" from sources -- including blogs -- that are tainted with right-wing opinion. Tom proposes that blogs share a large responsibility for confusing readers and blurring the lines between news and opinion. On this same topic, last week Editorial Cartoonist Ted Rall wrote
an Op/Ed piece last week on blogs that primarily talks about the dangers of the right-wing blogger "lynch mob." Does the sphere of right-wing blogs far outweigh the sphere of influence of left-wing blogs? And is this something that is worrisome? Are blogs a danger to further polarizing public opinion? What do you think?
posted by popvulture
on Mar 4, 2005 -
52 comments
Bloggers as TIME's "People of the Year" ? " Each year around this time going all the way back to 1927 the editors of TIME magazine sit down to debate and select their Person or People of the Year. Last year, if you recall, they selected the American soldier. In prior years they have selected everyone from Charles Lindbergh (1927) to The Computer (1982)...
The Person of the Year is defined as folllows:
"Person of the Year is an annual issue of TIME magazine that features a profile on the man, woman, couple, group, idea, place, or machine that "for better or worse, has most influenced events in the preceding year"
Why not
bloggers?
Steve Rubel thinks so.
posted by azul
on Nov 16, 2004 -
33 comments
Web of Influence Every day, millions of online diarists, or “bloggers,” share their opinions with a global audience. Drawing upon the content of the international media and the World Wide Web, they weave together an elaborate network with agenda-setting power on issues ranging from human rights in China to the U.S. occupation of Iraq. What began as a hobby is evolving into a new medium that is changing the landscape for journalists and policymakers alike. Hmm. Big Talk or should I get a clue & with the program ? Decisions, decisions....
posted by y2karl
on Nov 4, 2004 -
15 comments
Dan Rather: : "If the documents are not what we were led to believe, I'd like to break that story. Any time I'm wrong, I want to be right out front and say, 'Folks, this is what went wrong and how it went wrong.'" (reg. req.)
Andrew Sullivan: "Memo to Rather: you can't break that story, because someone else in pajamas already did. Check the frequency, Kenneth. You are so far from being out front on this, you are leagues behind in the dust. Have you heard of the Internet? You can find it on that weird machine in your office they call a computer."
Me: Is anyone else astonished as I am at how far CBS seems to have its head up its ass WRT news media in the 21st century?
posted by ericost
on Sep 16, 2004 -
128 comments
Digital Brown Shirts Begging the question, WTF?
Hot on the heels of
this micro-
fuhrer furor over the "Gore-Kerry-Hitler" net ad: Gore says something about "Digital Brown Shirts" and some rightwing bloggers adopt it as the new black. (They did decide to remove the swastika from their graphic.) I'm still blinking while I try to fathom this.
posted by StOne
on Jun 26, 2004 -
47 comments
Bill Gates May Blog. Always
ahead of the curve, the astute visionary's groundbreaking foray into the virginal internet territory, known by computer hackers as "web logging,"
won't be all business, either. He's expected to share personal details such as tidbits from recent vacations. I for one am trembling on the edge of my seat.
1.0 lacks that special something.
posted by scarabic
on Jun 26, 2004 -
18 comments
