Click to viewA Gizmodo author has been ostracise from CES for a prank . But when I see some fellow press damning us for the put-on , I sense sorry for them : When did journalists become the guardian of corporations ? When did this industriousness , defined by pranksters like Woz , get so serious and in - the - pocket of bountiful business ? This is totally pathetic .
Consumer electronics tech news media is very tricky . Those who strictly cover commercial-grade CE depend on a powerful smattering of companies for the very lifeblood of their content . That ’s a dangerous position . A “ favor ” by a troupe can turn over into the faineant kind of “ scoop ” conceivable , a scrap from the dinner table for the dogs of journalism . And every gadget journalist has wrestled with his conscience as he gains more access and becomes inseparable from the diligence and depends on more and more of these scoops .
But blogger and trade journalist , so desperate for a stern at the board with self-aggrandizing mainstream publication have it altogether backward : You do n’t get more access by sell out for pressure credential first chance you get , scrape to corporations and tradeshows and play nice ; you earn your respectfulness by fact finding , report , having untouchable unity , provocative coverage and gaining proofreader through your reputation for those thing . Our caper pays court to the notion of independency and independent reporting . And no matter how much enter the companies give us , we wo n’t ever stop being godless . That ’s what this prank was about and what the press should sympathise .
Critics talk about the harlequinade costing dollars and job . Motorola said “ no harm , no foul ” and enjoy the jest . ( Although they will be checking every consistence cavum I have for IR blasters next press conference . ) Were there Ab techs who catch in trouble ? They need only show their chief the video to be blame - free .
Many of our harsh critic have done far worse than clicking off a few TVs . I ’m talking about honourable backsliding such as accepting paid junkets to Japan by Nikon , or complimentary trip to Korea by Samsung . Turning a unreasoning eye to Apple ’s misapprehension when they did n’t make an iPhone SDK and sought to lock down the handset . Stock cost torn downward by publishing incorrect leaked information . Writing about companies that also yield you for advertorial podcast work . All of these exercise are offence from the last yr . And I consider those offenses far worse than our prank , because it ultimately it puts the culprit on the wrong squad . As one reporter put it while chiding me , “ diary keeper are guests in the houses of these companies . ” Not first and foremost ! We are the auditors of company and their gizmo on behalf of the reviewer . In this job , wholeness and independence is far more important than polite or corporate respect . Every tech journalist has to decide whether or not he ’s writing for companies or for readers . When they start compose for the companies , cover all their public press release and regurgitating marketing jargon , you do no one any favor ( not even the company , which already engage pressing release machine ) .
Gizmodo was give memory access to moving-picture show and interview Bill Gates again this twelvemonth . Some pubs might have softened up on questioning him , but we did n’t : We engender the guy to open up and talk about Windows and its shortcoming like he never has before , not even on 60 second . If that ’s not journalism , I do n’t know what is . If we had been in the pocket of this industry , we never would have asked such a risky question — and belike would n’t have been granted the interview to start with .
In closing , I will fill up you in on our little secret : video plow back on when you constrict the power button a second time . So , I can secure you , everything is going to be hunky-dory once the companies chance their clickers between the couch cushions of our antic and your respect . Will our critics determine it as easy to plough their integrity back on ? I doubt it .
Ce 2008
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