(I received this cat as a free sample from Preston Vineyards)
A lot of dust, cheers, jeers, and minor freakouts have been going on with the FTC's decision to make bloggers admit full disclosure on freebies, paid product placements, etc... My gut reaction at first was "who cares?" All the wine bloggers I read state whether or not they received samples. I include the same when I'm invited as media to wine dinners, comped at tasting events, etc... It is in my personal interest to disclose this and remain honorable (not sure if I'd call myself credible)- and I owe it to my readers.
That being said, I do know a number of non-wine bloggers that do a ton of pay for play and don't disclose that to their readers. I have an issue with that, but one that I want no part in attempting to regulate. Fake product reviews on Amazon, Yahoo, E-Bay, movie reviews, etc. are all the same to me.
After reading Tom Wark's reaction to the FTC decision, it is an interesting blow that these guidelines are not for traditional media-- just the online / blogger part.
The positive we fail to see is that by only regulating the online / blogosphere piece, we instantly make blogging more credible than traditional media. Bloggers receive 1/100th of the freebies, trips, dinners, samples, jet boat rides, cougar hunts, and Spice Girls tickets than traditional media.
Disclosure for us is easy. Disclosure for legacy media is not easy or pretty and comes with a much higher cost.
