Swag taints tech coverage, raises ethics questions

Next week, thousands of tech journalists will descend on Las Vegas to get a sneak peek at coming tech gadgets at the International Consumer Electronics Show. Many will also probably come away with grab bags of goodies.

I know. Last year, I exited a CES press event with a small bag I assumed carried PR materials. In fact, I opened it to discover a camcorder worth several hundred dollars, which I quickly returned.

But these temptations don't stay in Vegas. Last week, Brad Stone of Bloomberg Businessweek noted that journalists invited to the San Francisco Spotify launch party in September were presented with $300 bottles of DeLeón Tequila.

Any local tech writer can also tell you they're routinely offered pricey gift baskets and all manner of smart phones, software, tablets and computers, often with no obligation to return or write about them.

The question, of course, is whether journalists can properly serve their readers when the industry is handing them bottles of top-shelf booze and pricey toys. When companies go to such great lengths to make journalists feel like industry insiders, can they still report objectively for outsiders?

The answer is often no, according to Kelly McBride, senior faculty for ethics at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in Florida. Journalists who accept these gifts can compromise their independence, even if they don't realize or admit it, she said.

For one thing, giveaways mean they cover events they otherwise might have ignored. For another, the act of accepting a gift subtly sways their perception of products, companies and publicists, McBride said.

It's simply harder for human beings to mercilessly slam a smart phone or a dumb CEO after readily accepting the company's big-bowed gift basket. That, of course, is precisely why companies drop big money on such items.

Taking gifts also risks shaking the audience's confidence in what's written: Is the rah-rah tone rooted in fantastic products or free ones?

Ethical standards vary

Publications can and do have varying standards. It's a perfectly valid question where the ethical line should be drawn between a few drinks and a camera worth a few hundred dollars.

What's critical is clearly disclosing a publication's standards and following them, said Mathew Ingram, a senior writer focused on digital media issues for San Francisco tech blog GigaOm.com. In the long run, it's not just the right thing to do, it's good business.

"If anyone can publish and anyone can be a journalist, what differentiates good journalists from bad ones?" he asked. "Trust. If you don't have the trust of your readers, then they may click on a headline or post and read it, but they're not going to become the dedicated fans or engaged readers that you want."

AllThingsD.com, the popular industry site owned by Dow Jones, has one of the most rigorous conflict and disclosure policies in tech blogging. It posts "ethics statements" for each of its writers, laying out any potential conflict of interest as well as stringent standards for accepting and returning any review items.

It's the least tech publications can do, said Kara Swisher, co-executive editor of the site.

"If (tech writers) take things, that's their business, but they should say what they're doing," she said. "Then readers can make their own judgments."

(The Chronicle's tech team doesn't accept gifts that exceed a nominal value - think calendars or cookies. The publication does temporarily accept some demo units either to review or familiarize ourselves with the products and companies we cover.)

New journalists

There's growing pressure on traditional rules throughout journalism today, but it's especially true within the technology field, because so many participants never worked in a traditional newsroom where standards are ingrained into cub reporters, McBride said.

"I talk to tech writers and bloggers all the time who get free stuff and they have no qualms about taking it," she said. "They have absolute confidence in their own ability to be independent."

Unlike in a traditional newsroom, where accepting a $300 bottle of Tequila might well get you canned, there are also few consequences at many independent or young tech sites, she said.

But Swisher, who spent years at the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, said she doesn't think the behavior is necessarily getting worse in tech journalism. There have long been fluctuating ethical standards between various types of newspapers, newsletters and other publications. She said, for instance, she's watched reporters from lesser-known outlets grabbing goodies at the electronics show for the last decade.

The ethical conflicts in tech journalism don't stop with the freebies, of course. There's also the emergence of the two-hatted journalist, who moonlights as an investor or consultant in ways that could raise questions about his or her ultimate allegiance.

In addition, there's the growing click-driven mentality that clearly leads some online publications to puff up headlines, overstate the strength of their reporting or run with unproven rumors.

That too is a short-term game, Ingram said.

"It's easy to have some salacious headline and slide show," he said. "But it's like having a 90 percent off sale. ... Thousands of people will come and take all your stuff, but they're never coming back."