Bravo Ars Technica; glad to see Nokia doesn’t have this issue

If you’ve been on the net in the past 48 hours you’ve heard about the "scandal" where Microsoft decided to give bloggers laptops loaded to the gills spec wise and software wise having Vista Ultimate Edition and Office 2007. I mention this because Nokia is doing the exact same thing with the blogger relations program and so far everyone I’ve seen lucky enough to be permitted into such a sweet gig has disclosed that fact with no questions asked. Ars Technica is one of my favorite websites and this snippet just reinforced it:

In fact, let me suggest where the real concern should be directed: at publications that aren’t giving full disclosure when relying completely on PR-provided goods. In this situation with Microsoft, the only faux pas I see would be one wherein a hypothetical author wrote a glowing review without admitting that their access was completely provided by Microsoft. But I ask you, when’s the last time you’ve seen a WSJ or CNET review prefaced with: "this review unit was accompanied by an NDA from Company X"? An editor at a big publication might roll their eyes at the idea of disclosing such things, but I can tell you as someone who has done the "tiny site with no recognition" thing, access can make or break you in a way any benefits from keeping a review unit simply cannot.

Even though we do not avail ourselves of these unsolicited opportunities when they come our way, this whole debacle has convinced me that Ars needs a disclosure page wherein we list any potential conflicts of interest our authors have relating to the subject matter we cover. Look for it in the next month or so.

So while some people make a big fuss over this just because it’s Microsoft, I say thank you to bloggers like Darla Mack, Ken Camp, Roland Tanglao, and Luca Filigheddu who openly admit that Nokia is giving them an opportunity of a life time to try out their latest and greatest products. More importantly, they’re blogging both the positive and negative aspects of said devices. It takes some balls (except you Darla, you’re a girl) to bite the hand that feeds you, but it’s all in good taste as feedback from influentials is always beneficial in the long term.