Censorship

I must be doing something right, I’ve been censored. What surprises me is who censored me.

Proposed FTC regulations requiring bloggers to disclose if they receive payment or free product, has some blogger’s up in arms. I pooh-poohed the idea and got censored. I commented to a post with humor, downplaying the idea that disclosing payments or free products, is a real issue. The blogger refused to post my comment.

Here is the part that may shock you: I was censored by a member of the publishing industry. Censorship is a far greater issue to the publishing industry than any FTC regulation. Yet, she exercised her right. Good for her.

Her argument is that disclosing free products for review or payment will harm her ability to make a living. Why? On this blog I allow Google to place ads so I can, you guessed it, make some coin for my efforts. You also understand I will charge for my tax and accounting services, don’t you? If not, you’ll find out soon enough.

If I receive a free product and review it, I want to disclose that fact. Likewise, I will tell you if I am compensated for an opinion. My opinion remains unchanged, but you need the facts to make a quality decision.

This morning I received a blistering email from above discussed blogger, complete with four-letter words. It was an email, a private correspondence, so I will not share details here. However, if you write a comment to this blog, it will post after I review it. As long as the comment doesn’t contain private information (this is a tax blog after all, I’ll answer those privately), is illegal or unethical, it will post. Before you hit the send key, know this. Once posted, it will stay posted. Nothing you say or do will make me take it down. If you comment, it is a public discussion.

I like getting paid for what I do. I like getting free stuff. I am not bashful about it when it happens. You shouldn’t be either. And no, the FTC didn’t pay me to write this blog. If someone clicks a Google ad, I’ll eventually get some spare change. If you become a client, again, I’ll have greenbacks to pay the light bill. Is this something the publishing industry should censor? Now I need this person to spout-off publicly so I can get a quarter million viewers on this blog per day. Can you help? For free?