Fark's unethical behavior

From Wired News today:

Fark.com, one of the most popular blogs on the Net, has been accused of selling out -- joining a growing list of new-media outfits willing to bend old-media rules. ...

Jason Calacanis, publisher of several rival Weblogs Inc. blogs, claims Fark offered him highly placed links to his sites in return for several hundred dollars.

"I was shocked because I had come to trust the brand, and the person behind it," Calacanis said. "Anything that is an advertisement should be labeled as an advertisement. This is not rocket science."

Calacanis said he didn't know how many links on Fark are paid for, or how long Fark has been selling them. But he said a Fark salesman told him the site does it "all the time."

"We don't hold ourselves to the same standards as (The New York Times), and I would urge you not to either," the salesman, Gogi Gupta, wrote in an e-mail to Calacanis.

But Fark's publisher, Drew Curtis, told Wired News that Calacanis' experience was an isolated incident and that Gupta had been fired. ...

Fark publishes a daily list of links to a wide variety of stories across the Net, attracting a huge audience of loyal readers. It is one of the most popular and influential blogs on the Net.

And while the site runs conventional banner ads, many readers assume that Curtis, or his editors, choose story links based on merit, not payment.

To Calacanis the issue comes down to disclosure: Readers need to know what is going on.

However, when pressed on the issue, Curtis refused to deny that Fark accepts payment for placement of links. He did not respond to requests for clarification from Wired News.

Calacanis, the former publisher of the Silicon Alley Reporter, said any blurring of ads and editorial -- even if the editorial is a list of links -- is a "huge problem" for the blogging industry.

"I've been through this with websites and e-mail newsletters, and I'm not going to go through with it again on blogs," he said. "It would be a shame to damage this very promising medium for a quick buck."

Calacanis is absolutely right, and this cannot be overemphasized: Blogs that accept payments for link placements without disclosure are betraying their readers' trust. The fact that weblogs are a relatively new medium don't mean that all the old rules of trust and ethical behavior no longer apply.

The top three rules for new media must continue to be: Disclosure. Disclosure. Disclosure.

Wired News had to reach deep into the backwash to come up with a spokesman for deception, but managed to find a reporter for that paragon of journalistic integrity, Advertising Age, who is quoted as saying that while journalists might get worked up about mixing editorial and advertising content, few others care. "Journalistic watchdogs get really (excited) about it," he said. "But does the public give a shit? I don't think so."

Here's one flack masquerading as a reporter that I wouldn't hire to work for my publication (if I were a hiring manager again).