The new FTC Guidelines are not overarching invasions by government to restrain commerce, but the new guidelines do focus on practices that have been prevalent in social media, but not absent from traditional advertising and media programs. Will traditional media be required to post when they receive free products to review for gift guides, etc. and give them to interns and other staffers?  Will the media conglomerates be required to disclose that every news story, every newsmagazine on “competing” cable network show is part of their corporate umbrella?  We have seen glimmers of this – when NBC covers GE they disclose that GE owns them, when ABC covers Disney, etc.  The disclosures have not covered other broadcast or syndication agreements, but it would be crazy with the space and air time eroded by disclosure. The media business is very interdependent.

It remains to be seen how this will be enforced.  It does expose ALL MEDIA who review products to disclosure rules.  It has far reaching implications for how PR firms represent their blogger relations programs, how advertising firms represent their integrated advertising buys, how integrated media firms represent the relationship aspects of their programs.  The disclosure rules may undermined those firms whose “expertise” was anything they could buy.

Blogging did reveal the fantasy of impartiality that product reviews/placements have operated under across a variety of trade, broadcast and traditional print media.  However, the FTC guidelines do unfairly burden one segment of the media community with disclosure rules that do not extend to other media – it’s that restraint of trade?

Seems dark to me. Lights anyone?
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Submitted book treatment last night - this is much harder than you think!