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The mommyblogger racket

12:16 PM Mon, Apr 27, 2009 | |   Email this entry
By Sheila Lennon  |    Email this author

I'm Calling Out The Carpetbagging Mommybloggers. Erin Kotecki Vest, blogging as Queen of Spain names no names:

You scream about your power and you yell about your influence and you position yourself in articles and demand attention, but there's no THERE THERE. Why are you powerful? Is it because you write so wonderfully and make us all laugh or weep when we read? Is it because you participate and write endlessly about the rest of us? Pointing out who's talking about breastfeeding or who's got a great point about potty training?

No, you're hosting a giveaway, selling all our souls for a new mop, and lowering the bar for the next to come along.

You know there is a beautiful old dinosaur of an idea that traditional media has taught us. You clearly separate ads from editorial. Ads and editorial are not the same and you don't blur the lines. Reviews are clearly marked and disclosed. Giveaways are just that...giveaways, where in you admit you too got yourself the giveaway item. It's what makes you"credible." No really, it does. And let me tell you sister right now you are far from credible. But these companies are so desperate to get online and they find you and you find them and then ALL our credibility drops. Thanks for that. Not.

Fur flies in comments.

Some of this is in the air after last week's WSJ story, Paid to Pitch: Product Reviews By Bloggers Draw Scrutiny.

Fwiw, newsrooms have been strict in recent decades. The rule of thumb is sometimes a low dollar value or a vaguer but stricter standard: If you want it, you probably can't keep it.


I found this post via old (circa 2002) blogger friend Jeneane Sessum's Twitter feed. Jeneane's blog is a bit stale these days, but she tweets. And comments on those early days on Erin's post.

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