Insider Chatter by Donna Bogatin

The blogosphere conversation inspired by the Microsoft fueled “marketing conversation” continues.

In CNET Preaches Blog Religion yesterday, I signaled discrepancies between CNET and ZDNet professed stances regarding the interaction of publishers, writers and advertisers and real world implementations of the online media property.

Michael Arrington, a central “accused” blogger in the “advertorial” controversy weighed in, saying “I also note Donna Bogatin’s post (she’s a former CNET/ZDNet writer), where she points to a little hypocricy at CNET.”

Don Dodge, a dedicated employee of the corporate “culprit” in the affair, Microsoft, and a dedicated blogger in his own right, commented at my blog:

Donna, Great blog! You have experience as an entrepreneur, ZDNet blogger, and now as an independent blogger, so you have seen all sides of this.

Your story is the first rational response I have seen on this. Your screen shot of the ZDnet blog and other examples are spot on. Hypocricy reigns.

Mike Arrington, Fred Wilson, and Richard MacManus stood tall by defending their decision, and their right to do so. As Scoble pointed out Leo Laporte and Paul Harvey do paid product endorsements all the time. We don’t hear cries of hypocricy about them. The funny thing is, these People Ready ads really didn’t say much. No product endorsements or product mentions. Just some quotes about how their business (blog) is “people ready”. This is a tempest in a teapot.

Thanks for your clear voice of reason on this.

Dan Farber, ZDNet editor in chief and CNET VP of editorial also responded at my blog:

Donna,
You make a good point about disclosure on ZDNet blogs. Good catch as usual.

As you know, our external bloggers have potential conflicts that they must disclose. The disclosure pages are accessible from the blogs. Turns out the link was missing from Phil’s blog.

The remainder of Farber’s comment is apparently a verbatim reposting of the two disclosure policies of the two ZDNet blogs in question.

BUT, is it really disclosure case closed? Can disclaimers really mitigate seemingly irresolvable industry conflicts of interest involving regular editorial contributors?

After all can a paid product evangelist for Adobe really be expected to be a truly independent voice in reporting on RIAs?

Will a writer that simultaneously promotes paid industry sponsorship while editorially opining on the said industry really be viewed by readers as being supremely objective?

Apparently not by all. Bobby comments at my blog: “The day I was that Wainewrite article / Webex advert was the day I stopped reading Zdnet.”

The authors of the ZDNet blogs in question, SAAS and The Universal Desktop, are freelancers dependent upon outside industry compensation.

Full time ZDNet editorial and blogger staff is also subject to significant industry conflicts of interest as well.

Case in point: ZDNet executive editor David Berlind, given that in addition to his day job, Berlind is “also a principal and the chief content officer of Mass Events Labs, Inc., a Massachusetts-based producer of unconference-style and custom events,” such as Startup Camp and Mashup Camp.

Berlind’s disclosure page reads like a who’s who of the Internet, citing 32 “companies/organizations have sponsored (or will be sponsoring) or contributed other non-financial resources to a Mass Events Labs-produced event,” including Microsoft, Sun, Intel, Yahoo…and Google.

The ZDNet disclosure page is firm that “there is no connection between the negotiation of such sponsorships and the opinions expressed by David here on ZDNet.”

BUT what about the APPEARANCE of impropriety? Clients of Mass Events apparently are able to make the ZDNet connection.

Berlind’s beat includes Google Enterprise products. Kevin Gough, point man for Google Enterprise, posted last month at the Google Enterprise blog:

Some of us on the Enterprise product team spent yesterday at StartUp camp an unconference focused on helping the start-up community work through the challenges that arise with getting a business off the ground …

Thanks to David Berlind, Doug Gold and Sun for organizing the event.

Gough thoughtfully includes a link to Berlind’s blog, at ZDNet.

United States legal and political systems encourage professionals to recuse themselves when the APPEARANCE of insurmountable conflicts of interest manifest.

Perhaps the Fourth Estate in the blogosphere needs similar guidance.

CONTACT DONNA BOGATIN