Which is pretty much exactly the opposite of the point you made in the next para. After all, if it’s up the individual blogger, how could it reflect poorly on the “network itself” or on “bloggers as a whole”.

And of course, later on, you said “Our readers should not be confused about the source of what they read. If it is paid for, that should be labeled as advertising. In editorial environments, our voice and our space cannot be bought — or it is not editorial; it is, by definition, advertising. Not every media property needs to follow these rules; entertainment, for example, is not editorial. But this is the essential rule that allows us to accept advertising to support publications without losing our credibility.”

Which is also saying a lot more than ’stick to your own code’, I’d say.

And of course you lump Mike and Om in with Paul and Fred in the same analysis, even though 2 of them are simply guys who blog and 2 are guys who report news etc. etc.

And of course: “And I would further suggest that the editorial voice and space of Federated bloggers is not for sale.”

And then this debate with yourself: “So now I’m disagreeing with myself. In that last email, I put the onus on Federated to come up with that policy. And though I still think that would be principled and wise, I shift at the top of this too-long post when I say that I now believe it’s the bloggers who must make these calls. That’s because advertisers will be advertisers; they will try to push for more integration with us (and we should beware taking that as flattery). And sales people will be sales people; they will try hard to get the sale. So we bloggers are left, inevitably, with the need to say no. I also generally oppose efforts to create omnibus codes.”

Hey, some say it’s a tough issue, but no fair taking all sides of it in the same post!

So – pretty not straighforward, I’d say.

I’ll say one thing, though – it did kill them on the ‘net – happily only for a day or so, though. Nick Denton, who competes with Om and Mike for scoops, pulled the trigger. Nice bit of work, that – I can’t remember – is that irony, or is it editorial bias?