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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.”

( LOVES US: However, the story notes that bloggers do tend to write about the swag and the special treatment.)
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.”

Like I’ve said before, deep down, the Journal doesn’t understand bloggers.