Bloggers for hire
In an unusual merger of traditional and new media, a group of “veteran business bloggers*” was hired by American Express to blog in response to an onstage interview with Richard Branson, Chairman of the Virgin Group. The interview, conducted by Jane Pauley, took place on October 18, in Miami.
Frankly I am more interested in Richard Branson’s story in his own words than in the comments of a blogger. And “hiring bloggers” may be a contradiction in terms, blogs being the unfettered, authentic, freewheeling communications tool of the new century and all that.
In its “defense,” American Express posted a disclaimer on its site that “the facilitator and bloggers for this event have been compensated for their time by OPEN from American Express.”
Darren Rowse, writing on the shamelessly commercial blog ProBlogger (tagline: helping bloggers earn money) calls the event “an interesting experiment.” Comments on Rowse’s post range from “a great step forward for blogging and bloggers,” and “smart and cool,” to “the blogosphere is selling out.”
* It is the editorial policy of this blog not to engage in the tediously self-referential act of blogging about blogging, but in this case the story relates to an executive’s onstage appearance, so an exception was made.
