Blogger freebies -- the latest A juicy row in the blogging world about accepting freebies from Microsoft and other big companies. Bloggers are like journalists: not a big surprise. But Mitch makes the good point that, just because establishment reporters have fallen into lazy and corrupt habits, doesn't mean that weblog writers need to go down the same route. He asks: "Why, if we're in the process of building a new medium or mode of organizing information should we wait for previous media to live by the word of their journalistic creed?" In fact, exposing the cozy practices of traditional media is the stock in trade of the best weblogs -- whether they're tech sites like Dave Winer's, or focused on political commentary like Glenn Reynolds's [see sidebar links].
Read Ratcliffe's post, it's a good one. I've also included a link to Rebecca Blood's book on weblogs, at least to the excerpt that covers ethics. And the photo expose above: web journalists on the Microsoft bus. That's Pete Rojas, part-time editor of Gizmodo and full-time fashionista, on the cellphone. You'd never guess he was a geek, would you? Ethics and blogging [Mitch Ratcliffe] Weblog ethics [Rebecca Blood]
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