This strikes me as a good thing - bloggers have existed in an ethical gray zone for a while, many all too happy to reap the benefits of free stuff.

"[Arrington' ends up sounding like a gal who's trying to convince you that she's not a 'prostitute,' she's an 'escort.'" I friggin love Fake Steve.

Why bother with silly things like ethics and standards when you can make plenty of money sitting in the middle of the bukkake that is the fanboism of Silicon Valley

Sharp post on why the "People Ready" blogola ad campaign stinks and a good roundup of posts from other smart folks.

Money quote: "The best publications have always been dialogs between great writers, passionate readers, and, yes, advertisers." Ah, yes, payola is just part of the conversation!

Since most media organizations have rules around accepting gifts from those looking to curry favor, Hollywood has aimed its spin zone at bloggers. This should be fun to watch.

Why Josh Wolf is not a journalist and why we should stop pretending like he is

"What you need is a cluestick and you should be beating yourselves with it."

This will go over well...

If you look closely at the left hand, you can see that they smudged out the cartoon flip-off.

"This is the most frustrating thing about the practice of giving bloggers free stuff: it pisses in the well, reducing the credibility of all blogs." Joel has some great points here that will continue to be brought up as bloggers continue to gain influence

"Perhaps, we should judge a news photograph as a collection of purported facts about the world that is accurate if its claims are true and inaccurate if they're not."

Awesome

Not sure about the whole moissanite thing, but this is a pretty good "diamonds are evil" rant

"House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (Ohio), who rose to power in the wake of a congressional lobbying scandal, spent the equivalent of nearly six months on privately funded trips over the past six years, according to a new study by a nonpartisan resear

What a hacktastic photoshop job from our friends at CNN - and they didn't even bother to label it as a "photo illustration." Wankers.

Sensational journalism at its absolute worst. Sadly, this is exactly what I've come to expect from the same folks who keep John Dvorak employed.

I quit reading Gawker not long after it debut, not because it made me sad I didn't live in New York, but because it made me glad

Mostly cuz it's a racket

Really fascinating L.A. Times account of how war gets covered - or doesn't

Michelle Delio seems to have written a few stories with unverfiable sources

The perils of automotive "journalism"

When - WHEN! - will they learn?

Now, credits appear on the cover after that whole Martha Stewart mess [via Jossip]

Or maybe Martha WAS available for a photo shoot from prison

I have a hard time believing that this would have affected the outcome of the election, though

Did you guys learn anything? Seems so...

Fallout from the bloggers and credibility conference

Student photog evicted from campus housing for photographs, including a car break in

Dan Gillmor parses the bloggers-as-paid-supporters scandal

When blogging and reporting collide

How will the bloggers react to rules from on high?

Pshaw, what does this guy thing bloggers are, journalists? Oh, wait...

What to do when journalists get paid to talk about what they write about