Are they journalists, pundits, or just publicists? The role that amateur bloggers play in the media is still nebulous, as demonstrated by the travails of a political-science scholar at Marquette University.
John McAdams is the author of Marquette Warrior, a conservative blog that has, in recent weeks, defended the university’s decision to prohibit The Vagina Monologues from being performed on the campus and accused the student newspaper of liberal bias. In another series of posts, Mr. McAdams wrote approvingly of Wal-Mart — congratulating the company for a rush of job applications and criticizing unions who allegedly hired day laborers to picket outside the store.
Those items seem pretty standard from a right-of-center would-be pundit. But a New York Times article revealed this week that Mr. McAdams was sent information on those stories by Marshall Manson, a blogger who works for Wal-Mart’s public-relations firm. On his blog, Mr. McAdams did not mention Mr. Manson as the source of his stories about Wal-Mart.
Bloggers have debated whether Mr. McAdams’s posts were perfectly justifiable commentary or betrayals of a public trust; the Times wrote that the posts "raises questions about what bloggers, who pride themselves on independence, should disclose to readers." Mr. McAdams has defended himself, penning — in remarkably quick succession — a string of posts that accuses the Times of unfairly attacking both Wal-Mart and the entire blogging community. (The New York Times)
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