MAINSTREAM MEDIA WHORE: CBS DEMANDS CNET REMOVE CES AWARD BECAUSE OF CBS LAWSUIT (Updated)
UPDATE: “CES Awards DISH’s Hopper with Sling as ‘Best of Show’ – plans to replace CNET!
The Best of CES awards program is produced by CNET under contract with the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) ®, the producer of the International CES. CNET editors originally selected the Hopper with Sling as Best of Show before CNET’s corporate parent, CBS Corp. forced them to remove the Hopper from consideration due to ongoing litigation between CBS Corp. and DISH over specific features of the Hopper.
After the Hopper was removed from consideration and a revote by the editors, CNET awarded The Razer Edge as Best of Show.
CBS Corp., along with other broadcasters, is in litigation with DISH over the Hopper’s capability to allow the recording and playback of programming 24-hours later without commercials. CBS’ decision to force CNET to remove the product from consideration for Best of Show and change its product review policy created a media firestorm. CNET will no longer review products manufactured by companies with which CBS Corp. is in active litigation with respect to the legality of the specific product. Last week, CEA joined several leading tech groups in filing an amicus brief in support of DISH Networks in the suit over the Hopper.
“We are shocked that the ‘Tiffany’ network which is known for its high journalistic standards would bar all its reporters from favorably describing classes of technology the network does not like,” said CEA President and CEO Gary Shapiro. “We believe that the DISH Hopper DVR is fully covered by the Supreme Court’s ruling in Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios Inc. The simple fact is making television easier to watch is not against the law. It is simply pro-innovation and pro-consumer.”
CEA also announced that it will soon issue a request for proposal (RFP) to identify a new partner to run the Best of CES awards program. <Source>
Original Blog …
Once upon a time, journalists – even those working for major corporations – maintained a firewall between corporate executives, the advertising department and editorial department. Now, it appears that journalistic ethics are a thing of the past in an Obama era, where mainstream publications and media outlets have lost all credibility and are simply appendages of the corporate executives. Witness the journalistic corruption at NBC/MSNBC when parent corporation General Electric went all out to promote President Obama and his fellow travelers as part of their strategic corporate vision. Perhaps they had no choice as they rely on government for major grants, contracts and help with sales to foreign entitites. But all of the trust in what was said on their network and cable outlets appeared to be little more than propaganda from the Obama administration.
Please note, this is not a slam on the hard-working trade journalists at CNET who need their jobs in these economically freaky times – but simply an example of the whorehouse that mainstream CBS has become.
The problem is that CBS corporate apparently ordered CNET to remove the Dish Hopper with Sling from consideration for the Best of CES [Consumer Electronics Show] awards simply because CBS is suing Dish over alleged copyright violations because the Hopper can skip over revenue-producing commercials. The product in question, a Sling-enabled Hopper DVR, lets users watch live and recorded television anywhere – not just at home. A great feature for those of us who do not normally watch broadcast or cable TV on their schedule, but time-shift to a schedule of our own making.
The idea that a journalistic award for the “best of breed” can be influenced by the parent company’s litigation or dictates corrupts the entire process. Even knowing that an award is capable of being corrupted defeats the entire purpose of an award based on merit.
Best of CES 2013
CNET once again presents the official awards program of CES. The awards recognize the best products at the show, including a Best of Show award and a People's Voice award, as voted by the CNET audience.
Since 2006 CNET has presented the Best of CES Awards given to the top products as well as one coveted Best of Show Award. See the nominated products for this year, and vote for the People's Voice winner starting Wed., Jan. 9, right after finalists are announced.
The Dish Hopper with Sling was removed from consideration due to active litigation involving our parent company CBS Corp. We will no longer be reviewing products manufactured by companies with which we are in litigation with respect to such product. <Source>
If CNET is no longer to honestly and fairly review products or to distort votes by he general public, they should suffer the consequences and be shunned in the tech industry. Corrupt in one area, the probability is that hey will be corrupt in other areas.
Bottom line …
Corporations are always suing one another over deals, patents and perceived slights. This is simply a way of life. But when these feuds spill over into what is purported to be honest reporting, the consumer loses.
It is hoped that the Consumer Electronics Association and its Chairman Randy Fry (of Fry’s Electronics for all you geeks) formally sanctions CNET’s parent CBS for their boorish behavior.
Content creators and distributors have always attempted to disadvantage consumers when any electronic innovation hits the market; all for the purpose of saving their failing business model which demands a strong government-enforced gatekeeper infrastructure. Digital audio recorders, digital video recorders and now content delivery over the Internet must be encumbered with restrictions on usage and privacy violations as individuals and their files are tracked at every use of a Internet connected device.
-- steve
“Nullius in verba”-- take nobody's word for it!
"Acta non verba" -- actions not words
“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw
“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”
“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS "The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius “A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell “Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar “Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS