I thought it was a very fair piece--and Kurtz of course is going to be more receptive to the sentiments of bloggers since, well, in a broad definition of the term, he's a blogger too.
His column opens this way:
I knew a few days ago that the New York Times was planning a piece on big companies like Wal-Mart using friendly bloggers to get their message out.
The reason I knew this, of course, is that some of the bloggers posted preemptive pieces after the paper contacted them for comment. (I have very mixed feelings about that, since no reporter wants to get scooped on his own story because he's trying to be fair by calling people. Welcome to life in the blogosphere.)
More...
What's not in dispute is that what was once dismissed as a pajama-clad brigade is becoming increasingly influential, to the point that giant companies have to worry about what they say. Dell got tarnished, for example, when it dealt shabbily with Jeff Jarvis over his lemon of a laptop. And as I reported the other day, the Pentagon has created a unit to seek good coverage and knock down bad coverage among bloggers.
The better bloggers are going to have to figure out their own standards for dealing with corporate and political flacks, and those who blindly carry water for outside groups will probably lose credibility over time. But I expect them to be in the minority.
Once again, I have to reiterate, my main interest in writing about Wal-Mart is in the irrational demonization of the retailer from the Left--particulary unions.
Crazy Politico and Iowa Voice get quoted extensively in Kurtz' article.
Brian of Iowa Voice has had his fill of talking the media about the story, as you'll read here.
Kurtz' Post article has a glaring omission: Tula Connell of the AFL-CIO blog still has not explained this statement she made Monday:
We know Wal-Mart has no shame. And here's more confirmation.
Apparently New York Times reporter Michael Barbaro is working on a story detailing the corporate behemoth's attempts to buy good PR by paying bloggers to write sympathetically about the world's largest employer of low-wage workers.
Barbaro's article never made such a claim.
Crazy Politico has similar thoughts about Tula.
Oh, Marshall Manson of Edelman PR sent me this article...but I would've found it anyway.
Technorati tags: Wal-Mart WalMart AFL-CIO Howard Kurtz Washington Post New York Times
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