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NEWS: Blogger Reportedly to Be Paid for Posting about Natsu no Arashi


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Teriyaki Terrier



Joined: 26 Mar 2008
Posts: 5689
PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 1:21 pm Reply with quote
Ten dollars just to write a review? I bet in that contract somwhere states that the review must be completely postive and never to point any negatives, otherwise the review will nulified.

Personally I wouldn't do it, I don't want to be told what to write. Especially if there some flaws with the show.
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edzieba



Joined: 13 Dec 2006
Posts: 704
PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 1:22 pm Reply with quote
This isn't going to backfire when hundreds of thousands of extra references to that tracking image appear scattered around the web. Nope. Definitely not.
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freshkazuki



Joined: 27 May 2005
Posts: 235
Location: Texas
PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 1:58 pm Reply with quote
I guess I wouldn't mind writing about a show I liked. I wouldn't feel like a sellout. But about a show I didn't like...THEN would come the conflict. How could you tell yourself you were being honest with the thought of money passing through your head?

To me, the blogosphere is rapidly becoming the only place to get honest opinions about anything, whether it be manga, games, anime, movies, etc. IF you know the site is run by an independent reviewer or fan that doesn't have a financial incentive to say good things about certain works. Anybody here heard about Electronic Gaming Monthly getting cancelled? I know they were having problems because videogame companies were pulling ads, one reason being that they didn't like getting negative reviews. Now, besides Play and Gamepro, all we have are coporate rubber stampers, "Official" Playstation and Xbox Magazines, and Nintendo Power, the mouthpiece of Nintendo.

Even Newtype was a rubberstamper. Anime Insider doesn't review anything. Otaku USA does a pretty good job. But even they have to think about advertisers and the like and in some way have to keep the anime and manga companies happy. What would happen if the next cover of Otaku USA had a full cover shot of the cast of Naruto and beneath it, the line "NARUTO SUCKS!! & WHY WE HATE IT". (don't get me wrong. I love Naruto) but Viz would probably cut all ties with the magazine. Bloggers are the only ones that can truly be honest, because they have nothing to lose, or gain. I would say that most if not all people that blog about anime and manga do it with no intention of ever making any kind of profit off of it. They simply do it because they love the medium. Since I've had my blog, I think I've gotten about 3 books for free to review (2 of them I had already bought anyway before I got the review copy). But they sorta made me feel dirty. So I'd rather spend my own money getting manga, even if I have to go without eating sometimes:D I have also sometimes thought about putting advertisements on my site, but never have, for the same reason.

In the end, would I trust a blogger that was getting paid in cash or gift certificates to do reviews about anime or manga by the company that produces them? NO.
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domino



Joined: 25 Nov 2004
Posts: 373
PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 2:15 pm Reply with quote
Paying for reviews doesn't bother me as long as the reviewer is still paid even if he decides to bash the show. Blogs are indeed the most honest reviews out there these days, so I hope they stay honest... but then again, a dishonest blog is a blog with no readers.
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DomFortress



Joined: 13 Feb 2009
Posts: 751
Location: Richmond BC, Canada
PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 2:49 pm Reply with quote
domino wrote:
Paying for reviews doesn't bother me as long as the reviewer is still paid even if he decides to bash the show.
Of course, that is if the show is worth the basing due to it's lack of good contents. Regardless the lack of merit on the production committee.
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FanFicGuru



Joined: 11 Apr 2007
Posts: 159
PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 2:55 pm Reply with quote
domino wrote:
Paying for reviews doesn't bother me as long as the reviewer is still paid even if he decides to bash the show. Blogs are indeed the most honest reviews out there these days, so I hope they stay honest... but then again, a dishonest blog is a blog with no readers.


I disagree. I think that dishonest people especially take advantage of blogs because of this "honest" implication. Like all these blogs are written by honest rebels with "nothing to lose or gain".

What is "dishonesty" anyways? People take honesty based on what they want to believe about a certain event or in this case, anime series. They might think that when a magazine praises a series they love that they are being "honest" and when they trash a show they like they're being "dishonest", or anti-mainstream. Of course nobody on ANN would know anyone who would stop liking a show just because it became popular...

In any case, let's not put bloggers up on some moral pedestal. They deserve scrutiny like any other publication, and carry the same sorts of virtues and sins. Honesty vs. dishonesty doesn't have much to do with it at all.
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rg4619



Joined: 30 Jun 2007
Posts: 163
PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 3:03 pm Reply with quote
Teriyaki Terrier wrote:
Ten dollars just to write a review? I bet in that contract somwhere states that the review must be completely postive and never to point any negatives, otherwise the review will nulified.

Personally I wouldn't do it, I don't want to be told what to write. Especially if there some flaws with the show.


From what the article says, they aren't asking for reviews, but rather promotional posts (with a link to the official site) prior to the show's premiere.

In that way, StarChild isn't out to mislead people, although paying bloggers to give your show more pre-release coverage is a bit sleazy.
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Tofusensei



Joined: 15 Feb 2008
Posts: 365
PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 3:11 pm Reply with quote
Astroturfing. It's a good business move IMO.
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Zin5ki



Joined: 06 Jan 2008
Posts: 6680
Location: London, UK
PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 3:23 pm Reply with quote
Tofusensei wrote:
It's a good business move IMO.

I suppose they only have to rely on the effots of the bloggers to do their advertising for them. I hope for their sake that the hands they're feeding don't bite.
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Mike On Top



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 298
PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 3:39 pm Reply with quote
Heh?... How can you honestly write promotional posts or positive comments, or anything, if you haven't seen a show Confused Wouldn't it be better and cleaner if the studios add an English version on the sites for the respective premieres (for example), if more successful advertisement is needed?
It is good when anime blogs give extra information on series (I like), but objective coverage I haven't noticed to be their forte (if their purpose was ever to give one). It doesn't really matter if bloggers are paid in that case, but I doubt I'll waste time reading hidden advertisements.
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yuricon



Joined: 06 Oct 2004
Posts: 147
PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 3:47 pm Reply with quote
freshkazuki wrote:
I guess I wouldn't mind writing about a show I liked. I wouldn't feel like a sellout. But about a show I didn't like...THEN would come the conflict. How could you tell yourself you were being honest with the thought of money passing through your head?


It's no more of a conflict that receiving free copies for review and writing a reasonable review.

I am quite good friends with one particular anime/manga publisher, but just because they give me stuff (sometimes not even for review, just for fun) does not mean I won't be truthful. When they put out poor quality DVDs, I pointed it out - they subsequently brought the quality of their releases up, since they knew people were watching.

If I were to be asked to blog for money, I would have no qualms whatsoever about providing the same kind of reviews that I write now.

And btw, dear anime/manga companies, please feel free to offer me money to write about your series! lol

Cheers,

Erica Friedman


Last edited by yuricon on Sun Mar 29, 2009 10:43 pm; edited 1 time in total
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narutoismybrother



Joined: 10 Aug 2007
Posts: 198
PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 3:48 pm Reply with quote
Kind of reminds me when Seven Seas offered their light novels to bloggers who would review them.
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DomFortress



Joined: 13 Feb 2009
Posts: 751
Location: Richmond BC, Canada
PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 3:51 pm Reply with quote
rg4619 wrote:
From what the article says, they aren't asking for reviews, but rather promotional posts (with a link to the official site) prior to the show's premiere.

In that way, StarChild isn't out to mislead people, although paying bloggers to give your show more pre-release coverage is a bit sleazy.
True on both count. It's as if they want to save the advertisement effort & budget buy hiring blogger; amateur writers with an established readers outside of the mass medias circles.
yuricon wrote:
If I were to be asked to blog for money, I would have no qualms whatsoever about providing the same kind of reviews that I write now.

And btw, dear anime/manga companies, please feel free to offer me money to write about your series! lol

Cheers,

Erica Friedman

Hungry for Yuri? Have some Okazu!
That's some nice reviews you've got on your blog site, Erica! Very Happy Even I find them to be enjoyable, when I'm not versed on the topic of Yuri.

And yes, dear anime/manga companies, do feel free to offer good blogger a chance to be recognized by their good works.


Last edited by DomFortress on Mon Mar 30, 2009 12:00 am; edited 1 time in total
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Joe Mello



Joined: 31 May 2004
Posts: 2305
Location: Online Terminal
PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 6:55 pm Reply with quote
Problem is that this is a slippery slope. If it's to drum up unbiased visibility, then I guess it's okay--probably akin to this site getting DVD's and such to review. However, if this is for artificial hype, then it's payola, and that's a big issue.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14886
PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 9:19 pm Reply with quote
Hey, at least we know who the shills are. Laughing
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