Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Corrupting Influence of Money in the Media: ZDNet Compels Jack Wallen to Advertise and Even Endorse Proprietary Software to GNU/Linux Users (Software He Later Admits Sucks)

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Apr 04, 2024

Piranha swimming in an aquarium

Background readings:

  1. 5 Jack Wallen Features That Might Make Him Microsoft's New Favorite Linux Shill
  2. Is BlueMail a Client of ZDNet Now?
  3. ICYMI: ZDNet Financially Controlled by Microsoft
  4. Wikipedia Demotes CNET Due to Chatbot-Generated Spew as 'Articles'; It Should Do the Same to ZDNet (Also Red Ventures, Also Microsoft Propaganda)
  5. ZDNet (Red Ventures) Works for Microsoft (Redmond), Many Of Its Pages Are Spam/Advertisements Paid for by Microsoft
  6. ZDNet, Sponsored by Microsoft for Paid-for Propaganda (in 'Article' Clothing), Has Added Pop-Up or Overlay to All Pages, Saying "813 Partners Will Store and Access Information on Your Device"

After promoting Microsoft Edge and BlueMail (with Microsoft extensions) we see yet more SPAM that is for proprietary stuff and from a company has demoted "Linux" to just a beta:

Proton Mail is making a serious case to be my next Linux email client

Notice the part at the top (small fonts):

ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing. When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.

Wallen's dependence on ZDNet (Red Ventures) for income is corroding his credibility. He is becoming a PR rep.

Later they wonder aloud why so many people have become so cynical about the media.

Also see (hours ago): What Microsoft Staff/GitHub/systemd Hopes to Distract From This Week (as noted before, e.g. [1, 2])

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