What Does Gizmodo's CES Prank Means for Bloggers

Posted by Cyndy Aleo-Carreira on January 13th, 2008

By now, I'm sure everyone has heard of Gizmodo's prank at CES, using a TV-B-Gone device to turn off displays at booths and during presentations. The actual offender has been banned from future CES attendance, with other ramifications possible.

The story has gotten considerable coverage, including the mainstream press, including the New York Times. Virtually every forum that the story has appeared in has seen people coming down on one side or the other, some thinking the prank was funny, while others feel it was over-the-line. While the debate goes on regarding the entertainment value or lack thereof, one recurrent theme seems to appear in almost every forum: the status of bloggers as journalists.

CES embraced the blog world this year with great fervor; besides providing passes, they had a lounge area dedicated to bloggers. They received the same perks as other members of the press. But the real question left after CES this year is how bloggers will be viewed by not only next year's CES, but also other conferences.

I consider my role as a blogger to be a bonus. Not only do I get to cover the news, but I get to insert my own thoughts on the news item, which I consider to be the main difference between traditional media and blogs. Let's be honest; no matter how hard you try to maintain objectivity, everyone has their own biases that are bound to creep into coverage, no matter how diligently you attempt to remain neutral in your coverage.

Blogging allows a new interpretation of news reporting. Rather than try to cover a story objectively, leaving an audience to debate it in their own circle, you present the story using the facts as you know them, interjecting your own opinion. The comments sections of blogs allow your audience to debate the topic with you, and that debate, in my opinion, only adds to the story. There will always be people who disagree with you, but it's my feeling that the differing opinions provide a closer approximation to the full story than a story that's attempting to be neutral on the surface, but provides no opportunity for discussion.

There is still a view of bloggers, however, that we are a blight on journalism, and many commenters on the Times piece obviously agree. Commenter Dan Yokum says “With bloggers, you’re taking big chances in terms of knowledge, professionalism and integrity,” and commenter Marc Lee said, “Bloggers are not journalists, they are just people with laptops and the need for attention.”

Getting taken seriously as a blogger instead of a print media journalist has been an uphill battle. Many conferences have refused to consider bloggers as journalists, requiring them to pay full conference admission in order to cover them. The treatment received by bloggers at CES was a sign that maybe, possibly, the tide was starting to turn, and new forms of media were gaining acceptance. The stunt pulled by the Gizmodo blogger will probably have lasting repercussions for the entire industry. Based on that, I'm certainly not amused, and am embarrassed as a tech blogger that, rather than apologizing not only to the organizers of CES and the vendors and presenters who suffered as a result of the prank, they are basking in the page views.

Edited 13 January 2008 to correct typo and formatting errors. 

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