Blogging for The Man

We bloggers take some pride in the fact that we are independent. We don't get paid, therefore we don't owe anything to anyone. Mostly we do this cause it's fun and feel like we went to spread a message or reach out to people in the way that the mainstream media can't. Just To The Left started as two friends emailing back and forth about the news of the day and then discussing the crap out of it. Our in-boxes started to get cluttered, so we thought, hey wouldn't it be fun to post our thoughts on a blog and see if anyone else wants in on the discussion?

But as with all things on the fringe that have a following, corporations are jumping on the blog bandwagon and using them to spread their own agenda.

Brian Pickrell, a blogger, recently posted a note on his Web site attacking state legislation that would force Wal-Mart Stores to spend more on employee health insurance. "All across the country, newspaper editorial boards — no great friends of business — are ripping the bills," he wrote.

It was the kind of pro-Wal-Mart comment the giant retailer might write itself. And, in fact, it did.

Several sentences in Mr. Pickrell's Jan. 20 posting — and others from different days — are identical to those written by an employee at one of Wal-Mart's public relations firms and distributed by e-mail to bloggers.

Under assault as never before, Wal-Mart is increasingly looking beyond the mainstream media and working directly with bloggers, feeding them exclusive nuggets of news, suggesting topics for postings and even inviting them to visit its corporate headquarters.

But the strategy raises questions about what bloggers, who pride themselves on independence, should disclose to readers. Wal-Mart, the nation's largest private employer, has been forthright with bloggers about the origins of its communications, and the company and its public relations firm, Edelman, say they do not compensate the bloggers.

But some bloggers have posted information from Wal-Mart, at times word for word, without revealing where it came from Instapundit.com, one of the oldest blogs on the Web, said that even in the blogosphere, which is renowned for its lack of rules, a basic tenet applies: "If I reprint something, I say where it came from. A blog is about your voice, it seems to me, not somebody else's."

Companies of all stripes are using blogs to help shape public opinion.

Before General Electricannounced a major investment in energy-efficient technology last year, company executives first met with major environmental bloggers to build support. Others have reached out to bloggers to promote a product or service, as Microsoft did with its Xbox game system and Cingular Wireless has done in the introduction of a new phone...

We here at Just To The Left can assure you, our trusted reader(s), that we will never sell out. (But for the right price... come talk to us.)

Jesus Saves, God Loves, Wal-Mart owns your ass.