Posting today, JR Raphael review “In depth: What Asus’s $179 Chromebox is actually like to use” is excellent cautionary tale in responsible reporting. Companies exert as much influence as they can get away with when interacting with product reviewers, who should always expect trickery.
The Chromebox supposedly ships with 2GB of RAM, which in my testing is really insufficient for Chrome OS. Users can make-do with so little, but many will want more. Asus gives where it shouldn’t.
JR writes: “Here’s where things get a little strange: Asus actually sent me an evaluation unit with 4GB of RAM, as I first discovered when looking in the Chrome OS system info panel. When I asked about it, Asus told me it was an unintentional mixup and that some developer units were evidently sent to reviewers by mistake”.
He reports responsibly. How many other reviewers wouldn’t catch the “apparent gaffe” that doubles memory and improves performance over what buyers actually get? That “mixup” is rather convenient, don’t you think?
I always assume everybody lies and ask “Who benefits?” to discern how. Call me jaded now. I tend to tell the truth. Isn’t that a journalist’s role, to reveal truth, explaining some of the career’s attraction to some personality types? But years of interaction with corporate executives and marketing and PR reps makes me suspicious. I made many mistakes as a young journalist, thinking that the people pleasantly working with me are as truthful. Generally, they are not.
Bloggers and journalists must always diligently deal with marketing and public relations professionals. The groups share different agendas. The reporter is accountable to his or her audience. Corporate execs are accountable to their bosses, boards, or shareholders. Marketing and PR people answer to their companies or clients. Lying to you, the news gatherer, is in their self-interest or the entity they represent.
To find truth, you must sometimes climb a mountain of lies.
Perhaps Asus really sent JR the wrong model, but by measure of “Who benefits?” the manufacturer gains more from a “gaffe”, and there is plenty enough plausible deniability that a responsible reviewer can’t blatantly accuse.
Responsible reporting is a relationship of trust between the news gatherer and his or her audience. The blogger or journalist passes on the trust he or she places in sources to the audience. That makes exposing lies high priority. Sometimes you can’t responsibly reveal which. By presenting the situation, without additional commentary, JR rightly offers explanation that lets readers decide.