Bloggers on the Dole?

Actually this is nothing really new; bloggers have been charging for favorable coverage for a long time.

Via the Daily Caller:

Katie Couric once described bloggers as journalists who gnaw at new information “like piranhas in a pool.” But increasingly, many bloggers are also secretly feeding on cash from political campaigns, in a form of partisan payola that erases the line between journalism and paid endorsement.

“It’s standard operating procedure” to pay bloggers for favorable coverage, says one Republican campaign operative. A GOP blogger-for-hire estimates that “at least half the bloggers that are out there” on the Republican side “are getting remuneration in some way beyond ad sales.” …

One pro-Poizner blogger, Aaron Park, was discovered to be a paid consultant to the Poizner campaign while writing for Red County, a conservative blog about California politics. Red County founder Chip Hanlon threw Park off the site upon discovering his affiliation, which had not been disclosed.

Poizner’s campaign was shocked to learn of the arrangement, apparently coordinated by an off-the-reservation consultant. For Park, though, it was business as usual. In November 2009, for instance, he approached the campaign of another California office-seeker — Chuck DeVore, who was then running for Senate — with an offer to blog for money.

“I can be retained at a quite reasonable rate or for ‘projects,’” Park wrote in an e-mail to campaign officials. In an interview, Park defended himself by claiming, “nobody has any doubt which candidates I’m supporting,” and noting that his blog specifies which candidates he “endorses.”

But while Red County’s Hanlon expressed outrage at Park’s pay-for-blogging scheme, questions arose about his own editorial independence when it emerged that Red County itself had been taking money from the Whitman campaign.

There is also a connection to those in the Blogosphere, which I am familiar with:

Dan Riehl, who writes the Riehl World View blog, is one of Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele’s most vocal defenders in the conservative blogosphere. When The Daily Caller reported the RNC spent $1,946 at a bondage-themed nightclub featuring topless women dancers imitating lesbian sex acts, Riehl blasted the piece as a “pathetically weak story tailored to play to the Left and create problems for the GOP.”

“Riehl World View” readers might be interested to know that Riehl is not simply a blogger, but also a paid consultant to the RNC. In an interview, Riehl said he was paid an amount in the “hundreds of dollars” for writing a strategy document on how the RNC could better reach out to bloggers. Riehl said his motivation for defending Steele was to aid the Republican Party, and that he didn’t disclose his consulting work because, “I didn’t see it as having anything to do with my views.”

“I never made enough money to be bought,” he said.

Other bloggers openly lament how few campaign dollars are flowing their way. Conservative blogger Robert Stacy McCain complains that politicians aren’t purchasing more advertising on blogs. “Advertising buys good will,” he says.

There we have the huge difference between myself and many of the other Bloggers out there. Advertising on my blog, will NOT buy my good will. Because basically, when someone pays you to say nice things about them, you become something, that I feel goes totally against what is known as a free, independent press. A propagandist. You ask, “But isn’t a political blogger, a propagandist?” Not Hardly. There is a difference between having a political opinion or position; and being bought off by a political party or a candidate to write favorable for them or cover a candidate’s event and write favorable about it. One is an honorable position, whether it be left or right; the other is corrupt. There are those who do it, and it sickens me. It bastardizes the political Blogosphere and robs it of any credibility.

The only sort of postings on this blog, that I will ever do, are “sponsored” postings. A perfect example, would be found here, where I post a snippet of a blog posting and then send the reader to a site to sign up for stock and gold investment tips. So, far, I have not been paid for that; I get paid, if enough people sign up for the service and I clearly mark the post as a “Sponsored Posting.” Further more, that sort of thing does not buy “my opinion” on anything, least of investing, because I know exactly “Jack Crap” about it. I admit it, I do it for the money.

However, when it comes to my opinions on politics, no money has ever, nor will it ever buy me out, ever. I have been known to, and will continue to turn fire on Conservatives, Christians, and Republicans. I even once took on Matt Drudge, not that he ever knew about it; but I still did!  Also, Of course, I will also criticize, berate, and mock the Socialist, Progressive, Far-left in this Country; which is why this Blog was started.  Of course, I do not always hammer President Obama, I have been known to Praise Obama, when I thought he deserved it. However, when I thought the President was wrong, I also wrote about it. I have also criticized the Iraq War from day one as well. One will also note, that I have been VERY critical of the Conservative movement’s darling, Sarah Palin.

Anyhow, I believe that this clearly shows, that I am not a biased blogger and that I am not a Partisan Blogger. However, I am someone with an opinion, an open mind, and a Blog.

Update: Now a Memeornadum Thread, even if that asshole did quit scanning me.