I’m interested in reader reaction to this question.
At present, I don’t really have an advertising “policy” except that I’ve tucked a few national ads in the sidebars, with only minimal control from my end on the content. I can, and have, excluded specific advertisers because their views/values are just too contrary to my own, but by and large, I don’t pay much attention to them apart from an occasional chuckle over unintended irony.
It’s not like this site is anywhere close to self-sustaining anyway, so a few ads during the political season might bring a little welcome income but won’t make a substantive financial difference.
And there are a lot of tricky questions to be addressed. There’s no luxury of a “firewall” between editorial and advertising with a small blog like this. So will paid advertising by Candidate A influence, even if indirectly, what I choose to write about? Or will it encourage you, my readers, to suspect hidden influence? If so, should I limit candidates to those I could support? Remain open to all?
I’m a bit inclined to sidestep advertising and instead encourage candidates who want to increase their exposure here to simply make themselves more readily available for questions, interviews, etc.
But I’m interested in how you feel about the matter.
Comments, please.
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Ian, NO ads, period. I hate them. Be like me: poor but honest.
Aloha Ian,
I think the fact that you are asking your readers what we think sends a clear message – you care about sharing with us more than making huge profits. Just because the journalism business model isn’t working right now doesn’t mean quality journalism has died. You’re one example.
Many other bloggers write posts and call them “sponsored conversations” or something similar. That might be crossing a line for you, so I think AdSense or even larger ads can be tolerated by we readers. Besides, I think of it as my little way of helping when I click on one for you.
I say do whatever you have to do to be able to show the world what asking the right questions is all about, i.e. blogging. Knowing that Meda just took a pay cut, it’s hard to advocate for no ads when you might need them most. In these tough times, every bit helps, right?
Mahalo,
Capsun
I think that you should only take political ads that are paid for by foreign corporations.
(Otherwise do what you like with disclosure.)
I meant: (Otherwise do what you like, but please disclose your policy.)
I agree with Bill – I don’t see your readers as likely to be influenced by any advertising. And I doubt if you would have so many loyal readers if we thought you were susceptible to the influence of advertisements.
But then I don’t need to use an ad blocker – I completely ignore advertisements on web pages. My eyes never even focus on them. If you can supplement your income by picking up a few more, go ahead. I won’t even notice them.
Aloha Ian,
I agree with Mr. Exbor. Just because you don’t generate much revenue (Can I even call it that?) with ads, it helps, I imagine, maintain this blog.
I’m not a fan of the photos of cats and dogs (I don’t hate them, I just come here for the political analysis and the wonderful narrative about your father’s life a the Hawai’i of yesteryear made possible through your father’s possessions.) If I can ignore the cats and dogs, the political ads will not dissuade me from frequenting this site.
Ultimately, it is your decision to make, but I’m with you either way.
Surprised nobody has responded to “The Truth”. Here are some questions for you Ian:
Will you accept ads for a Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor? What if that candidate is not your current boss? Is your political coverage slanted based on your job (i.e. working for a specific legislator)? Is your political coverage objective and unbiased now? Have you ever reported anything unfavorable or favorable concerning your current boss?
This pretend transparency is unnecessary as long as you are working for a specific politician during the legislative session. Go ahead and accept advertising and slant your blogging in favor of the advertiser.
I enjoy your content and as a little girl remember much of your writing. I’ve been a fan ever since.
With blogging as a platform some people try to monetize it with advertising. I hope you don’t monetize it with political ads but it’s your blog. I appreciate your candor and can do without political ads.
This whole Wikileaks fiasco is pretty crazy. You should check out http://voteonwikileaks.com. It’s a recently launched website that seems to be going viral. They got something like 50,000 visitors in the first 24 hours of launch. It’s sort of like a crowdsourced collection of arguments against and for Wikileaks. As a blog owner, you’d probably find some of the opinions there a good read.