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I'm curious what list members think about a situation that has arisen
this week:
Besides doing marcom and technical writing, I also do some computer
journalism. This week, a PR person contacted me about "collaborating"
with a company. At first, the comments suggested that the intent was to
produce some marketing collateral. However, further e-mails made clear
that the point was to cooperate in writing reviews about the company's
products.
I replied that any reviews would be completely independent, and would
need to be based on personal testing. The reply suggests that this is
fine.However, I'm still uneasy.
I realize that many people believe that journalists routinely establish
this kind of special relation with the makers of the products that they
are discussing. However, I have never worked this way. Nor, so far as I
know, neither have the journalists I know best. Nor, when I've been
doing marketing work myself, have I done more than send complementary
copies of products to recognized reviewers who might be interested in
the product or who requested copies.
I'm polling a couple of editors and journalists, but I'm interested in
other opinions. So, the question is: am I being overly-punctilious? Or
is the stiuation as ethically questionable as I tend to think?
--
Bruce Byfield bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com 604.421.7177
"Your working day is passing slowly
and you're thinking on the evening time
and we're running wild through your city
all your working days have passed us by."
- Mick Fitzgerald, "All Our Trades are Gone"
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