A Sell-Out's Tale - Zpedia

A Sell-Out's Tale - Zpedia

One day in February I got a message from a woman named Jennifer. As messages go, it was a good one. She worked for Volvo of North America, and she wanted to fly me to Phoenix for a three-day stay in a first-class hotel, all expenses paid.
She had a nice voice. Her message was short. She said, "You are preregistered for the Volvo C70 introduction in Phoenix. Can you call me back to work out the flight details?"
It would have been a cryptic message, but I had already been on one Volvo press trip, and I knew immediately that I had just been offered a cushy free vacation. All Volvo wanted, in return, was for me to mention their car in a national publication. Or, to put it bluntly, all they wanted was my journalistic integrity.

I found this through one of the many "demise of old media" articles. The "demise" article wasn't that interesting but they had a really interesting link in the article. It basically confirms what everyone suspects but no one ever confirms, people can be eaisly bought. Just to assure everyone, we at Clubbing Baby Seals have never accepted any form of compensation or gifts from anyone for favorable reviews or plugs. We try, but apparently no one wants to buy. So, if you have a product and are lacking a paid pundit. Please contact us. I promise there are no embarrassing naked pictures of myself or Baa floating around like that Jeff Gannon character. Of course, there can be, for the right price!