Save the Internet -- the ad controversy

Not only is there a movement to preserve net neutrality, we now have growing controversy over the ad policy that progressive bloggers should maintain. Buzzflash printed an exchange between Josh Marshall and a BF reader on this very topic. While I do not agree with the decision to publish email intended to be private, the bag has been well and truly de-felined, so we might as well talk about what Marshall said. Which was this:

Our line on net neutrality is very clear. We've also had a policy in place for three years about political ads. We do not accept or reject ads based on political content. We have a firm separation between the editorial and business sides of our operation. If you gave it more than two or three minutes of thought or read our policy, you'd probably see it's a good policy to have.

Actually, I agree with this policy. Or at least, I can understand it. But the issue here is not one of political content. It's a straightforward case of deceptive advertising -- a practice always disdained, even if the advertised product is a bag of frozen peas that weighs less than promised.

Ads for books by Ann Coulter have appeared on Marshall's site. Is that a problem? Nope. We know what we're getting with Ann.

But let's say a bookseller advertised super-discounted copies of the latest title by Al Franken. And let's say that consumers who bought from this vendor received a Michael Savage book wrapped in a badly-photocopied Al Franken dustjacket.

Is that a problem? Yes. No blogger should accept one advertising penny from such a vendor.

The anti-neutrality ads reach that level of deceit.

That said, I must confess (speaking as someone who has worked -- oh, from time to time -- for various ad agencies) that all advertising is deceptive advertising. The barker brays about the virtues of his wares and never divulges any shortcomings. But we all instinctively recognise that a line is crossed when advocacy gives way to fraudulence.

The real site trying to save the internet is Save the Internet. I've heard that these guys now have their own ad out there, although they probably have little or no budget. To help with the cause (and for no recompense), I created a home-made clickable ad (you can see it in the third column) which leads readers to the good-guy site. I think my ad is punchy. I like punchy.