

My Business Magazines Lied to Me - bostonbiz
http://coconutheadsets.com/2008/06/21/my-business-magazines-lied-to-me/

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wallflower
This article reminded me of this one about travel writing. Travel is very big
business. And who are the advertisers? Sometimes prideful, powerful sovereign
nations; advertising does not have to be overt as product-placement but
positive product-pronouncement.

"When I was at a major U.S. airline, our inflight ran a feature package, an
absolute blowjob on the wonders of a certain Caribbean country. The story
included a single mention of a broken-down truck on the side of a road and a
hotel with paper-thin walls.

Well, guess what? The country’s Chamber of Commerce or some well-connected
business group went apeshit over this perceived insult and their indignant
screams went up to the national government level and then to the airline’s
executive offices...

It just doesn’t make sense for major corporations to risk offending anyone
when hundreds of millions of dollars could be lost because some snarky writer
getting paid a buck a word wanted to inject a little local color...

And that’s one of the great misunderstandings about travel. The billions at
stake. You and I experience travel in the most personal possible way. But in
the larger context, it’s a global industry so massive that it’s net worth
can’t even be properly calculated."

[[http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/01/17/interview-
chuck-t...](http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/01/17/interview-chuck-
thompson-on-travel-writings-dirty-secrets/)]

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DaniFong
Incidentally, if you want to hear stories about real travel, my mom has a
blog, <http://www.theyearofbloggingdangerously.com/>

Great places to start:

Bootlegging in the Sahara, a How-Not-To guide:
[http://www.theyearofbloggingdangerously.com/2008/05/bootlegg...](http://www.theyearofbloggingdangerously.com/2008/05/bootlegging-
in.html)

Apropos to the current conversation, Going to Hell and Back the Perils of
Travel Writing: [http://www.theyearofbloggingdangerously.com/2008/05/going-
to...](http://www.theyearofbloggingdangerously.com/2008/05/going-to-
hell-a.html)

and "How to Retire at 28 and Travel the World.":
[http://www.theyearofbloggingdangerously.com/2008/02/how-
to-r...](http://www.theyearofbloggingdangerously.com/2008/02/how-to-
retire-a.html)

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ojbyrne
The business press is where journalists become hacks. Access to executives
generally involves so much stroking that fact-checking, integrity, and good
writing are all put aside.

Especially if they're executives at companies that happen to advertise in your
magazine/newspaper/website.

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ilamont
If the business press lacks integrity and skips fact-checking
responsibilities, then why is it that journalists at the Wall Street Journal
have consistently uncovered and published news of wrongdoing at some of the
biggest corporations in the United States, including Bear Stearns, Enron, and
HP? I can also think of incidents at computer magazines and online game review
sites in the past two years in which writers have refused to go along with
advertising- and business-related pressures and left or lost their jobs as a
result. How do these incidents fit into your theory about the business press?

~~~
ojbyrne
Certainly the people leaving their jobs fits my theory. Giving up your
integrity is not for everyone. And in searching for your sources on Enron I
couldn't help but notice that the few good articles were swamped by the bad
ones. Enron was Fortune's "most innovative" company for five years straight.

~~~
LogicHoleFlaw
Their accounting certainly was "innovative." Unfortunately innovation in
bookkeeping is often a bad idea. For good reason.

