The Larry Kane Report

Bloggers have become the rage of America, but while they pounce on some politicians and praise others, they should have the courage to tell people who is paying the bill.

The NY Times Sunday column exposing the amounts of money paid by politicians to certain bloggers was a real eye-opener. There is nothing wrong with Internet columnists getting paid for their work, or seeking sponsors and advertisers, but when they are being paid by politicians to praise those politicians, or to attack opponents, the writers have a responsibility to make that clear to the reading public!

Some months ago, an agency of the Bush administration was blasted for paying a commentator to embrace the agency and “sell” the message. That was a deception, just as it remains a deception for bloggers to attack, embrace, endorse and chastise, without letting people know that they are getting fees to do it.

There is nothing illegal in this practice, although a newspaper, network, or any organization devoted to news, would have nothing of it.

What this practice engenders is a disregard for truth-telling, and a host of other ethical questions.

Is the blogger really writing the truth as they see it, or merely a hired hand designed to promote a candidate or cause?

Can we trust reviews of books online, without being concerned that critics are being paid to do it?

If bloggers are being supported by political action committees. should we know?

I presume that many bloggers are really disguising themselves as “attack” ad surrogates for political candidates. I have no problem with that, but I would hope that most of them would simply post a message that says that those candidates are paying a fee to support the site.

Otherwise, political bloggers privately paid by opportunist campaigners, and who avoid disclosure, will lose their credibility.

Meantime, I assure you that I will never enter the “Pay for Play” environment of pseudo-journalists. I will accept advertising at times, but I will decline to write or comment about anyone who advertises on this site.

The Internet has opened-up many possibilities. It has also, as we know, offered room for deception and lies.

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