Is Getting Access To Competitors' Presentations Claiming To Be An Indy Blogger Corp. Espionage?
from the blurring-lines dept
One of the things that many conferences are struggling with these days is the question of how do you handle "press passes" for events. In the past, it was easy: there was press... and there was everyone else. But these days, when anyone can become a publisher of their own blog or other site, where do you draw the line? I know I've had discussions with conference organizers who fret over the issue, and generally decide on a rather ad hoc basis. But Glurbie alerts us to a story that takes the issue to an entirely different level. If you're a blogger... and you get a "press pass" to an industry (or competitor's) event as a blogger, rather than as an employee of your company, at what point is there an ethical lapse?In this story, a spokesperson for Boeing, who also writes for a defense contractor blog, went to an industry event under a press pass for the blog, rather than being listed as a Boeing employee -- and then sat in on various presentations by competitors. That second link notes that this probably falls short of real corporate espionage (which the original link above raises), but does certainly raise some ethical questions. There is a suggestion that most people in the room probably already knew the guy worked for Boeing, but it still seems odd not to admit that fact.
While there's some effort to pose this story as a question about "blogging" (and Boeing is apparently reviewing its blogging efforts and thinking of shutting down the guy's blog), I'm really not sure it's a "blogging" issue at all. The real issue is one of disclosure. The guy didn't disclose who he worked for when that could have been rather relevant.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
There will always be a blogger abusing the system
Welcome to another one of those areas where Technology has created an avenue for abuse.
There are a lot of bloggers that write EXCELLENT stories, and that even do better reporting that the mainstream press, but just because they have a hobby of writing stories online should not entitle them to automatic access to the press credentials.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: There will always be a blogger abusing the system
I'm not familiar with this blogger or his industry, but the best bloggers tend to be people who are very knowledgeable about their area of expertise (in contrast to the journeyman generalists that most 'journalists' are) so this kind of problem is likely to be revisited again in the future. It's a matter of whether you can wear one hat and not the other at any given point.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: There will always be a blogger abusing the system
My concern isn't in how well someone writes or if they are or are not writing a blog. My issue is in the definition of who is or is not entitled to press access to events.
Think about it this way, Mikee here always whines about how music should be free and musicians need to find other ways to make money like concerts etc... With the easy access to blogging ever person out there has the ability to begin writting stories online.
In America we have a history of valuing the freedoms of our press to do reporting, to the point that major lawsuits and settlements have taken place when members of the press are not allowed access to things.
If every blogger is concidered members of the press then every blogger is entitled to the same press access, and at some point there is going to be more room in the audience than there will be in the back stage areas where the press are.
It is only a matter of time before some idiot with a blog files a law suit against someone because they could not get access to all the areas where other members of the press are allowed.
My issue is with how the abuse will lead to the mainstream press crying that the government needs to institute laws to protect the reporters, and then the government will be back into controlling who has access and who does not have access to writing about the news.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: There will always be a blogger abusing the system
No, and even now there's no requirement to grant, say, a NYT columnist access versus a Pitchfork blogger. It's entirely up to the venue. Even back in the day, small papers who managed to field a reporter wouldn't always be able to get them access.
My point is that line is getting even blurrier. Talking Points Memo is probably a bigger journalistic force than most peoples' hometown paper.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
If it is, did they not know that before inviting him?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
It is manipulation and dishonesty at it's finest.
This guy appears to work for Boeing and run a blog for Boeing, there is no reason he should be trying to pass himself off "media", when he is something else.
A corporate shill is still a shill, no matter if you put the word "blogger" on top of it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I do agree the bloggers affiliation with Boeing probably should have been disclosed, but I doubt that this is as big of a deal as it is being made out to be.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Yea, I don't get it
And in light of that, I'm not sure how unethical it is to attend a competitor's presentation of information that has effectively been approved for public consumption without fully disclosing your personal affiliations.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I am in that same position and I do it all the time; no ethics violation whatsoever here.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
What prevents multi-job holders from being in "The Press"?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
This is a little off topic ... but on topic ...
You have bloggers, people who are single issue, news reporters, people issuing press releases, and many more.
You want to know who is actually a press person, rank them. Lets create a scale from 0 to 10,000, that scale to include but not be limited to, accuracy of reporting, source listings, news worthiness, etc.
Bonding professionals with a percentage of salary to being bonded and held in trust would also work to prevent abuse. You lie you get fined....
Just a thought
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: This is a little off topic ... but on topic ...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: This is a little off topic ... but on topic ...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]