Blog with integrity pledge

Stuff was the stuff of conversation at BlogHer again this year. For good reason: More sponsoring companies were at the conference sharing their swag and spreading the word about their wares with women bloggers who they hope will spread the word about their wares. The irony of the strong sponsor presence is there has been a long-simmering debate in the blogosphere about the growing practice of many bloggers taking stuff for free from companies who court them and writing about it--usually in nice reviews with nary a critical note.

I get that bloggers are eager to make money and derive some kind of benefit from their writing. I also get that most bloggers are not journalists, most of whom are guided by ethical guidelines that make it clear you don't take things or services from anyone you write about. So I think it's a good thing that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is close to cracking down to require bloggers who accept and keep products and services to say they do so their readers know the full deal. It's about transparency and trust, and it's important. Read More »