Summary: MSPmentor is an example of news sites or blogs that rent out space to bidders and therefore betray a higher degree of independence/trust people typically ascribe to blogs

TECHRIGHTS never received a payment from a company. It never will. It is a matter of principle and people generally know the site is about promoting ideas, not brands.

MSPmentor, part of a small media company which we mentioned here before for boosting Novell and also giving Novell a platform, is disclosing a sponsorship, but does that make up for publishing a corporate placement as 'news'? It says at the very bottom: "Dan Dufault is global director of partner marketing at Novell. Guest blogs such as this one are part of MSPmentor’s annual platinum sponsorship."

"The disclosure alone is not enough to make the coverage acceptable or accurate."The owner of this site, Joe the "VAR Guy", is a nice person whom I chatted with many times. It is saddening that journalistic integrity is compromised by a desire to make money; disclosures include sponsorships from Oracle and Novell, for example. The disclosure alone is not enough to make the coverage acceptable or accurate. There is no balance. It helps show why he has been so nice to Novell -- they pay him. A few weeks ago we gave some more examples of sites that Novell pays for positive coverage. It is probably not against any specific law, but it generally ruins news and it decreases trust on the Web. Just watch what looks like another advertisement disguised as news. There is a lot of stuff like this showing up in news feeds, and clearly this is not journalism; it's fluff like this which makes sites like Wikileaks all that crucial. Critical reporting never comes from someone reporting about his/her paymasters. That's PR, not journalism. ⬆