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RE: One of the problems with ezines...

>I would bet regularly in JA's time at the head of Stereophile that while
>attending the various shows manufacturers have in the conversation about
>reviewing one of their pieces of gear mentioned wanting to advertise. No
>firewall can stop that.

No, but I refuse to discuss advertising in such situations.

>Nor can a phone/email conversation about a piece of gear arriving safely or
>background/technical questions about the gear prevent the manufacturer
>from tossing in a statement inquiring about advertising costs.

Of course, but I always refuse to answer, and refer them to one of the
magazine's three ad reps and/or its publisher.

>One job of a publisher I assume is to act as a gatekeeper, especially if
>review products come to them first for a look-over before being distributed
>for review.

If you mean the person who is the publisher, then no, that person in a
traditional print-based venture is responsible for the business activities and
the advertising; it is the editor who decides what should be reviewed and
sets the magazine's policies about reviews..

>If the product doesn't meet a base level of quality standard it should be
>sent back.

This is plain wrong, in that it is putting that manufacturer's interest ahead of
those of the magazine's readers, by protecting him from criticism. At
Stereophile, as I said in the essay I linked to earlier in this thread, once we
have received a sample for review, the review always appears in print.

John Atkinson
Technical Editor, Stereophile


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  • RE: One of the problems with ezines... - John Atkinson 12:14:14 02/25/12 (0)

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