| kn said: The "stuff" is generally corporate property as they are an employee of the corporation. I would imagine that 90+ percent of the "swag" stays in the office for use by anyone... Review guides are standard practice. Review embargoes are to protect their financial interest. I don't have a problem with any of them... |
This is soooo funny. Where are you all basing this off of? Source, please.
Some reviewers get swag - the TV reviewer at the paper gets swag and donates it so everyone can buy it. And guides? Unless any of you can provide a source or two, the Lair guide is pretty much unheard of.
If a developer/publisher/PR firm sends me a guide, I toss it. No, thanks. Let me play the game and see if it's a pile of steaming crap ... I don't need spin or hype.
The problem in journalism period is ethics. You can not be swayed by bribes and the like. That's why most publications have a rule about keeping stuff. You don't. You donate it back to the company. Now, if you buy it, sweet.
Embargoes are set by the publisher/developer/PR firm and as a journalist, you can't break them. So what ...
And trips and stuff ... unless my paper pays for it, getting a free trip completely goes over the line. You don't think a week in Fiji will sway your thinking?
