Revenge of the Blogs

What do you call a sponsor who dumps your blog? An occasional advertiser. At least that's how Nick Denton characterizes Cheaptickets, which pulled out of Gridskipper because the site was "too naughty."

We'd rather lose the occasional advertiser than the character that attracts the audience in the first place. If an advertiser wants a safe environment, there are thousands of tired media outlets to choose from.

Weblogs are supposed to be unexpected and wincingly frank. That's an essential part of the appeal to a generation that's turning away from network television and print media.

That said, it might remain to be seen whether Sony, which pays $25,000 a month for exclusive sponsorship of Gawker Media's Lifehacker, would maintain its financial support if that blog were to tell us how to hack into Paris Hilton's Sidekick and put our name and number on her "hot" list, or better still how to do a workaround on Digital Rights Management. And would Gawker Media care? It's apparent that at least one content concession was made to Sony already—Lifehacker has a modified Gawker Media banner ad that omits the incestuous link to their porn blog, Fleshbot. Maybe they considered that "too naughty" for Sony.

A while ago, there was an open discussion among Nick Denton and Jason Calacanis, and others in the blogosphere, concerning the degree to which Gawker-style sponsorship, and blog advertising generally, might affect editorial content on the blogs. Some wondered whether Audi's sponsorship of Jalopnik would ensure more favorable reviews for their cars. Absofuckinglutely not, readers were assured. After all, this is Gawker Media, and these bloggers are a new breed of journalists, without the constraints of MSM editorial boards, right?

Nick Denton described Gawker Media's sponsorship relationship with Audi at the beginning:

Audi has come in as exclusive launch sponsor on Jalopnik. It's part of a wider online campaign for the new A6. Rather than clutter the page with banners, Patric King has integrated Audi into the design of the page. Take a look at the date headers. That's an idea borrowed from Flavorpill. We're throwing the launch party for the new sites at the flagship Audi showroom in Manhattan.

So, with that kind of objectivity, it seemed odd that Jalopnik, which is now sponsored by the nytimes.com/autos, failed to note that the all-new 2005 Audi A6 was given the inaugural "World Car of the Year Award" during the media preview of the 2005 Canadian International Auto Show. Jalopnik posted on February 17, 2005 that the Ford Mustang had been selected "Canada's Car of the Year" at that same show. And Jalopnik mentioned the Toronto Auto Show again in a post on February 21, 2005 and linked to a story "French Student Wins Automotive Design Award" [The New York Times].

That same day, we sent an email to tips@jalopnik.com mentioning the good news for Audi, and including a link to this feature article: "Audi A6 Named 2005 World Car of the Year."

Ironically, that story includes this statement about the award's independence:

By design, World Car of the Year has no affiliation with, nor is it in any way influenced by any publication, auto show, automaker, or other commercial enterprise.

The jury of 48 experienced automotive journalists individually reviewed, evaluated, and voted on the 36 eligible vehicles, by secret ballot. To be eligible for consideration for the inaugural World Car of the Year award, a vehicle had to be available for purchase in at least five countries, on at least two continents, prior to January 1, 2005.

"The voting was far more than just a popularity contest," Malloy said. Initially, jurors assessed the cars on the basis of 20 separate parameters, ranging from styling and comfort to performance and fuel economy, to develop a short-list of ten finalists.

For their final selection, they rated those finalists on five key areas of importance to potential customers: Merit, Value, Safety and Environmental Responsibility, Significance, and Wow Factor!, the car's emotional appeal. Those secret ballots were collected and tabulated by the international accounting firm, KPMG.

Nick Denton is "wincingly frank" on his personal blog, so perhaps we'll soon learn whether there's some reason not to mention on Jalopnik that the Audi A6 has been named the 2005 World Car of the Year—like this blog did.

Gawker Media, boasting some of the most recognizable blog names, Gawker, Wonkette, Defamer, Jalopnik, Gizmodo, Kotaku, Screenhead, Fleshbot, Gridskipper, and Lifehacker, has had the creativity and courage to push the envelope of both blogging and journalism.

But the question that hasn't been answered, or perhaps even asked, is whether or not these blogs will continue to give full and fair editorial coverage to an "occasional advertiser" who pulls out of an exclusive sponsorship relationship. Or might there be hard feelings and acrimonious revenge? It's a fair question that enquiring minds want to know, and fact-checking bloggers might be able to find out.