True stories of bloggers who secretly feed on partisan cash

[boston bean]

Katie Couric once described bloggers as journalists who gnaw at new information “like piranhas in a pool.” But increasingly, many bloggers are also secretly feeding on cash from political campaigns, in a form of partisan payola that erases the line between journalism and paid endorsement.

“It’s standard operating procedure” to pay bloggers for favorable coverage, says one Republican campaign operative. A GOP blogger-for-hire estimates that “at least half the bloggers that are out there” on the Republican side “are getting remuneration in some way beyond ad sales.”

In California, where former eBay executive Meg Whitman beat businessman Steve Poizner in a bitterly fought primary battle in the campaign for governor, it sometimes seemed as if there was a bidding war for bloggers.

One pro-Poizner blogger, Aaron Park, was discovered to be a paid consultant to the Poizner campaign while writing for Red County, a conservative blog about California politics. Red County founder Chip Hanlon threw Park off the site upon discovering his affiliation, which had not been disclosed.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2010/08/23/true-stories-of-bloggers-who-secretly-feed-on-partisan-cash/#ixzz0xWTwgD4R

[nashville_brook]

1. Rec #5 -- important stuff to be mindful of

[Stinky The Clown]

2. Who wouldda thunk it?

:plunk:

[boston bean]

4. i couldn't have dreamt it....

:shrug:

[nashville_brook]

3. so, if conservative blogs ban paid bloggers -- can we? is there a DU policy on this?