Fake Grassroots

In January of this year an Ann Taylor boutique known as Loft e-mailed several bloggers with an invite to an exclusive sneak peek of the 2010 spring collection, with one exception. The bloggers had to post a blog about what they saw at the sneak preview and only AFTER the blogs were completed, the boutique agreed to send out gift cards to these bloggers. This is an incentive, a reason for bloggers to provide positive information to their readers regarding the Loft's product. So what is the problem? Only two out of the 31 bloggers who posted their blogs revealed that they were to receive a gift card. This is an illegal practice known as "fake grassroots." You can read the LA Times version of this entire story here: LATimes Blog

If Apple sent me a new iPhone for me to write my previous blog on the iPhone and everything I liked about it, but I did not disclose this information then I would be breaking the law. This law was enacted in October 2009 so it is a fairly new law but I do have a major issue with this decision.

Before I get into that I should mention that Apple did NOT give me an iPhone to write my previous blog, I simply wanted to share all the things I adore about the iPhone that I paid $200 for.

Fake grassroots is certainly an understandable rule to apply. Blogs are one of the few areas that allow for direct consumer information sharing on anything and everything that interests us, but once incentive is brought into play, the objective is skewed.

Here's where the lines become blurred:

Fake grassroots does NOT apply to professional journalists!

This means, if a major publication does a story on an amazing resort in Mexico, and they had their reporters' travel expenses paid by the resort, they do NOT have to tell people this.

According to journalism ethic guidelines laid down by the Society of Professional Journalists, it is NEVER okay to receive gifts or incentives for completing a published story. If you write about a product then, by SPJ's ethical standards, you should either give it back when you are finished, donate it, or buy it. If you write on a restaurant, SPJ does not find it ethically sound to be given free food.

Of course, these are ethics we are talking about, NOT official laws.

After learning this information in my J350 class, I have one question. Why aren't professional journalists held to the same standards as everyday bloggers?

I would love to hear some opinions on this information. Please feel free to comment!

~Kylie


And I found a funny interactive piece on fake grassroots: