Save Us From the Swag-Takers
Wall St. Journal: “The Federal Trade Commission, eager to protect us from shoddy media practices, issued new regulations this week requiring full disclosure from a variety of sneaky characters. Celebrities are on notice that if they sing the praises of product X while on Oprah’s couch, they had better mention how much the makers of product X are paying them, even if that payment is nothing more than a free sample in a goodie bag. The famous are not the FTC’s only target. The agency declared that “a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement.” Sounds reasonable enough, until it becomes clear just how expansive the FTC’s concept of an “in-kind payment” is. The blogger who gets a free review copy of a book and writes up his opinion of it is now being labeled by the government a commercial endorser of the book—even if he pans it. This is not how traditional media are treated, which is what makes the new rules so significant: The government has weighed in on the contentious topic of whether bloggers are journalists—and delivered a resounding No.”