Wall St. Journal's Love/Hate Relationship With Bloggers

The Wall Street Journal has a love/hate relationship with bloggers. Today, they love us and hate us in the same story - right on page one.

The Journal says that TV networks are trying "Blogola" - giving freebies and star treatment to bloggers - to get publicity for new shows.

Key quotes:

LOVES US: "...network PR experts say blogs are important because they often serve as idea farms for professional reporters." (However, reporters often quote blogs, including this one, without attribution.)

HATES US: "Mainstream news outlets now have strict rules governing to what extent their palms can be greased. Presents valued at more than $25 are typically banned, and that includes travel. But most blogs, many less than five years old, don't have such rules."

Then, a couple of paragraphs later, the article contradicts itself and says some of us do have codes of conduct:

"Blogs are starting to calcify into more traditional media operations as they grow -- establishing ethics rules about accepting gifts in the process. Five-year-old Gawker Media Inc., which operates 13 blogs, early last year instituted a code of conduct. Writers now must identify on their various blogs any gifts in excess of $25."