View Full Version : Hi-Fi Magazine Ethics
The Grand Wazoo
02-09-2012, 16:32
Right, here we go then!
Page 41 of the October issue of HFW. Letters section. A guy asks for advice on how best to upgrade his turntable - 'Moving Up'.
The editor gives the letter to a hi-fi dealer (once of this parish) to reply to. The dealer suggests a wide range of products, all of which he stocks - (SME arms, Funk Platters, Benz & Transfiguration cartridges) and two of which are under his own branding (Evo TT & Timestep psu).
If you were the editor and/or publisher, would you think that was appropriate? Actually, come to that, if you were the editor (where's DP!) would you think that was appropriate?
Right, here we go then!
Page 41 of the October issue of HFW. Letters section. A guy asks for advice on how best to upgrade his turntable - 'Moving Up'.
The editor gives the letter to a hi-fi dealer (once of this parish) to reply to. The dealer suggests a wide range of products, all of which he stocks - (SME arms, Funk Platters, Benz & Transfiguration cartridges) and two of which are under his own branding (Evo TT & Timestep psu).
If you were the editor and/or publisher, would you think that was appropriate? Actually, come to that, if you were the editor (where's DP!) would you think that was appropriate?
Would you be posing that question were the said dealer still of this parish?
It seems no more or less ethical than laudatory reviews next to full page adverts for the product, or reviewers being flown out for factory tours with free beer, and being able to buy review equipment at heavily discounted prices, or for the editor to have family working in the company for whose products he gives invariably rave reviews.
If I was the editor of WHF I would do so under an assumed name, so that none might guess at the true nature of my loathsome trade.
The Grand Wazoo
02-09-2012, 17:13
Would you be posing that question were the said dealer still of this parish?
Yes I would.
Unlike others here, I have no personal axe to grind with him but when I see something I think is wrong, I say so. I've already emailed HFW to express my view.
Right, here we go then!
Page 41 of the October issue of HFW. Letters section. A guy asks for advice on how best to upgrade his turntable - 'Moving Up'.
The editor gives the letter to a hi-fi dealer (once of this parish) to reply to. The dealer suggests a wide range of products, all of which he stocks - (SME arms, Funk Platters, Benz & Transfiguration cartridges) and two of which are under his own branding (Evo TT & Timestep psu).
If you were the editor and/or publisher, would you think that was appropriate? Actually, come to that, if you were the editor (where's DP!) would you think that was appropriate?
When you say "where's DP" what are you referring to, if it's David Price he left Hi-Fi World about a year ago?
sq225917
02-09-2012, 17:57
Publishing is a business not a charity, brands supply gear and pay for adverts for exposure based on circulation numbers and we buy them because we like interesting stuff to read.
To be honest I'd rather read a 5 page factory visit in all its technical and historical detail than a 5 page review of another product. They are all just advertising rags, at least the Jap mags have some worthy features.
The Grand Wazoo
02-09-2012, 18:03
When you say "where's DP" what are you referring to, if it's David Price he left Hi-Fi World about a year ago?
I know that. That's why I wrote 'If you were the editor' - Were - It's the past tense of the verb 'to be', you know. I also used bold to emphasise the fact.
The Grand Wazoo
02-09-2012, 18:16
Publishing is a business not a charity, brands supply gear and pay for adverts for exposure based on circulation numbers and we buy them because we like interesting stuff to read.
So it's OK then?
And I'm wrong to consider this behaviour is improper?
So it's OK then?
And I'm wrong to consider this behaviour is improper?
PM sent.
The Grand Wazoo
02-09-2012, 18:32
Yup, got it cheers - all is good!
Wakefield Turntables
02-09-2012, 18:48
Chris,
Its not the first time DC has been asked for his opinion in HFW, strangely, I feel he's the only "Dealer" that been asked for an opinion. Plenty of audio companies have been asked regarding their kit. Personally I think its unethical but i dont loose any sleep simply over it because I dont like DC's way of doing business.
A
I don't have a problem with what the dealer wrote - they are bound to recommend their own products.
However, I do think it is wrong of the editor to ask them in the first place.
I don't have a problem with what the dealer wrote - they are bound to recommend their own products.
However, I do think it is wrong of the editor to ask them in the first place.
Yes and yes, I'd be more worried if they weren't recommending their own products. Dealers should stock what they consider to be best at a range of price points.
The Grand Wazoo
02-09-2012, 19:47
That's exactly my point, Mark.
I know that dealers want my money, & that many will do what it takes to get their products into my consciousness and hopefully, into my living room.
However, a magazine editor and publisher has a responsibility to the readership. In this case, that responsibility has been either forgotten or ignored, & in a way which I think is pretty deplorable really.
I feel that the editor passing on such an enquiry to any dealer is shirking his responsibility as a supposed authority. He's an editor of a Hi-Fi magazine, FFS. If he has no recommendations of his own after all the listening and reviewing he has done, he's not much good, is he?
I feel that the editor passing on such an enquiry to any dealer is shirking his responsibility as a supposed authority. He's an editor of a Hi-Fi magazine, FFS.
That's stretching the definition of HiFi Magazine a bit. WTF is basically a huge advertising supplement.
Spectral Morn
02-09-2012, 20:32
I feel that the editor passing on such an enquiry to any dealer is shirking his responsibility as a supposed authority. He's an editor of a Hi-Fi magazine, FFS. If he has no recommendations of his own after all the listening and reviewing he has done, he's not much good, is he?
Well actually I would have to say no. If the question is outside his area of expertise or his staff - assuming its not a one man band - then to not say so would be wrong. In this case he/she should direct the enquiry to the most suitable person or persons who can answer the question. That could be the original manufacturer/distributor or in this case a dealer.
Now if the question is within the capability and experience of the editor to answer and he does not then that is a poor show.
Personally I find answering questions on individual systems and rooms and how a series of components - I may or may not know - might sound in that environment is a hard one to answer. I have many years of experience but without the ability to be in the room or know all the variables of the system and the listeners foibles I can't with any accuracy answer such a question - even if I know the component personally in my own system. One of the things I always point out re the reviews I write is I give context and point out that my findings are in my set up, my room and with my music.
In cases like this I always suggest the questioner go to their closest dealer and get an audition there and then at home. If there is no dealer - increasingly the case - then that makes things much harder.
I am very aware that some - note I say some - people park their own judgement and want a trusted other - maybe a reviewer or a magazine editor - to make that decision for them by telling them it will work. Well I am sorry to say this that I for one am very concious of how much money might be resting on this so I am always very careful with what I say.
Even when a dealer I was careful in situations where I did not know the customer well or been in their room and listened to their set up re what advice I gave.
There are though occasions when an opinion can be offered with certainty re tonal compatibility/matching, specification matching, quirks or weaknesses in items etc but the subjective opinion is I feel a potentially dangerous one and I for one do shy away from these types of questions.
That's stretching the definition of HiFi Magazine a bit.
That's why I said supposed. However, Chris was talking about HFW.
In cases like this I always suggest the questioner go to their closest dealer and get an audition there and then at home.
Firstly, any advice received should only go into a shortlist. No-one should be requesting an exact recommendation and no-one should be offering it.
Secondly, if a magazine passes on a request for advice to any dealer, they are simply going to receive a list of that dealer's stocked products. It's human nature, I'm afraid.
So I stand by the point already made that the editor should not have passed the enquiry on to a dealer. He has staff to advise him, doesn't he?
+1 (with bells on).
You can't blame Cawley, as he'll try and flog whatever bollocks he sells, but the magazine should be completely impartial towards any dealer... It's a fooking joke and shouldn't be allowed! :nono:
Marco.
The Grand Wazoo
02-09-2012, 22:34
I'd like to think that if I were the editor, & if I were forced into a position whereby I simply had to ask a dealer to help me out and, if in receipt of that copy (which was published) from the dealer, I'd tear the copy up into very small pieces and put it in a very deep hole. If push came to shove, I'd rather not use that letter in my letters page.
But, then I'm not the editor, I'm just one of his readership.
Very, very sloppy journalism.
sq225917
03-09-2012, 00:32
ED sees opportunity to build a relationship with a potential advertiser/supplier of kit for review by using him to answer a question- frankly I'm surprised you even have an opinion on the topic, the guy is just filling pages with content from a dealer who actually has product that people are vaguely interested in. It's just an advertising rag FFS maybe it was part of the deal in buying their forum... ;-)
Honestly, if one doesn't agree with a particular publications methods then one isn't obliged to purchase it. If enough people feel the same way then the publication goes west, that's the theory of natural selection in action folks... :doh:
jandl100
03-09-2012, 07:06
I must admit that I was a bit shocked when I read Chris's 1st post here.
I did think that HFW had higher editorial and ethical standards than that.
I think a "letter to the editor" deserves independent advice, after all that would have been the whole point of writing to the mag for advice in the first place!
Having said that - it's all a bit bloody pointless, as even when they aren't giving a favoured dealer a leg-up, the mags usually just trot out the same old reccies for stuff that they happen to like at the time.
It's probably naive to expect anything else, though. Si is probably correct - it's all about filling out copy to entice further advertising funds.
Mr Kipling
03-09-2012, 07:26
Hi-Fi Answers/The Audiophile did it for yonks! A query was given to two dealers in a region, and their reply published. Sometimes the recommendations were similar and sometimes different. Sometimes a dealer would recommend something they didnt stock if they thouit it was the best option.
The Grand Wazoo
03-09-2012, 07:45
But that was a long running feature about dealerships around the country and the people involved knew that. This example is where someone has sought independent advice.
sq225917
03-09-2012, 08:11
No, they haven't sought independent advice, they asked a magazine- quite a different thing. I amazed anyone thinks otherwise.
jandl100
03-09-2012, 08:14
No, they haven't sought independent advice.
I think they have.
Whether or not they are being naive in expecting to actually get independent advice is another matter!
Audioman
03-09-2012, 09:04
I'm astounded HFW would be using a dealer (especialy the one in question). Apart from the risk of pushing his own products his industry experience and knowledge of alternatives out there is limited compared with the average specialist journalist. Noel must be desperately short of reviewers (DP has pinched some of them) to answer the queries. Frankly I have skipped the last couple of issues as I could see a deterioration since DP went. Unfortunately DP is hobbled by sticking to the H F Choice format in his new position so that has not improved enough to tempt me. HFN in general now provides the best journalism. The only reliable journo on HFW now is probably our own Beobloke.
Audioman
03-09-2012, 09:17
ED sees opportunity to build a relationship with a potential advertiser/supplier of kit for review by using him to answer a question- frankly I'm surprised you even have an opinion on the topic, the guy is just filling pages with content from a dealer who actually has product that people are vaguely interested in. It's just an advertising rag FFS maybe it was part of the deal in buying their forum... ;-)
A misinformed comment Simon. The forum said dealer purchased has now been sold to a third party and was owned by Peter Comeau previously. World Audio in it's original form became seperate from the mag many years ago in any case and was revived by Peter after it's original demise.
HFW in the past was quite divorced from the advertising practices you mention. In fact their devoting so much time to 'Old World' and promoting first the Garrard 401 and then Technics SL1200 would likely lose many main stream audio advertisers.
It has been more a hobbyist magazine rather than promoting the usual suspects with 5 star reviews. However there has been a worrying trend to giving consistent great reviews repeatedly to a few brands even if this is coincidental. I think they would be advised to keep a certain west country dealer/distributor a little more at arms length.
morris_minor
03-09-2012, 09:22
I took out a digital subscription to HFN a short while ago - after a break of decades - and my last subscription was to The Gramophone before the audio section of that splendid organ became a WTF outpost.
But in reality, can any audio advice from anywhere be independent? Everyone has their favourite kit and no-one has experience of everything available. Providing you accept that fact and filter the advice you get accordingly there's no problem.
I'm astounded HFW would be using a dealer (especialy the one in question). Apart from the risk of pushing his own products his industry experience and knowledge of alternatives out there is limited compared with the average specialist journalist.
+1. I completely agree, Paul.
When chatting about hi-fi to Dave Cawley, it always struck me how little he knew about the subject, out with of the mainstream and items in his own product range. He's a 'chancer', pure and simple, and exists simply to line his pockets and make a fast buck, grabbing any opportunities he can to do precisely that, and the HFW thing is a perfect case in point.
The reality is that DC is much more interested in measuring equipment (to the extent of his limited ability) in his kid-on 'lab', full of largely outdated and sonically irrelevant test apparatus, which he makes sure that everyone visiting him sees, in order to portray the image of a 'technical guru', to give himself (and his views on audio) some credibility amongst the gullible, impressed by this facade, than actually listening to equipment properly. The truth is that he's a sales and marketing man, first and foremost, and a rather unscrupulous one at that, as we all know now, after the Mike New T/T bearings debacle.
What's happened here, and I've witnessed this first hand, is that Cawley cosies up to Noel Keywood at hi-fi shows (during meetings of the trade there), trying to 'impress' him, in order to seek opportunities to further the financial interests of his business, and this new 'consultancy' position with HFW, has clearly arisen from those cosy little chats, and the return sessions at his place in Dartmouth, where editors and owners of hi-fi magazines are given the 'VIP treatment'.
Honestly, watch him in action at the forthcoming show at Whittlebury, and you'll see exactly what I mean... It's comical! :eyebrows:
Returning to the main thread topic, magazines should not be allowing dealers to give readers advice, based on said dealer's bias towards promoting his own product range, especially a profit-driven parasite like Cawley! It is both unethical, smacks of 'jobs for the boys', and worst of all, 90% of the time will lead those writing into the magazine down a path tailored to meet the best needs of the dealer offering the 'advice', rather than the best needs of the readers making the enquiry.
It's self-serving and (virtually worthless, to the reader) bullshite.
Marco.
freefallrob
03-09-2012, 09:55
I read this the other day, and had to do a 'double take' when I saw it was signed by Sound Hifi, I thought it was unusual at best, disappointing at the worst.
I wish i could give a toss....but i don't.
I've not bought a HiFi rag since Practical HiFi folded all those years ago. Frankly it was the only rag which dealt with the scene that I really got on with...
I wish i could give a toss....but i don't.
Well I haven't bought said magazine in many years - I don't see that situation changing.
Audioman
03-09-2012, 11:16
+1. I completely agree, Paul.
It's self-serving and (virtually worthless, to the reader) bullshite.
Marco.
Furthermore Sound Hi-Fi barely has a credible range of products in their portfolio these days. Not somewhere one would go to audition and compare the alternatives available. There are plenty of dealers who do attempt to stock a wide product range that at least could be more objective.
While I think Noel has made a large error of judgement here I have no objection to dealer visit articles in which they highlight their recommended systems. These are obviously part advertising but can be usefull to readers in discovering what is available. Unfortunatey I end up gobbsmacked at the prices of some of the hi end systems that get featured.
I agree that any magazine that wishes to remain impartial cannot farm out reader enquiries to a dealer, no matter who it is. The whole point of consulting a mag rather than a dealer is to get advice that is unsullied by the desire to make profit. HFW is on a slide downhill that, in fairness, commenced prior to DP leaving. The strength of the mag used to be the DIY, the legacy articles and the standard/entertainment level of the reviews. Now DP and Adam have left that leaves NK as the only staffer able to write a review that does not send me to sleep within the first para.
Furthermore Sound Hi-Fi barely has a credible range of products in their portfolio these days. Not somewhere one would go to audition and compare the alternatives available. There are plenty of dealers who do attempt to stock a wide product range that at least could be more objective.
Absolutely!
DC only stocks kit that gives him a (very healthy) margin, hence his love affair with SME, Marantz, Audio Technica, Black Rhodium cables, etc. Being objective, in the sense of offering customers REAL choice, doesn't come into it, which is why his 'consultancy' role on HFW is a joke! :doh:
Marco.
Ummm, I didn't think SME gives a huge margin, despite their high prices, but you may know better since I was never a huge dealer for them..
HiFi mags used to bring dealers into recommendations, but made it a "feature," rather than playing it down. I used to write a few "answers" for HiFi Answers back in the day (late 70's) and got paid well for a "Setting up a TD160" article I remember (I did set up rather a lot back then). I couldn't type at all then and my hand written sheets had to be submitted for typing up, not an ideal for them.
The Grand Wazoo
03-09-2012, 16:48
I'd prefer this thread to move back to the question of ethical integrity of magazines - I never intended it to be a vehicle to discuss the dealer in question. As I said before, I've come to expect dealers to do whatever it takes to worm another sale out of us in any way that they can. However, I don't expect a magazine to feed that trait through their editorial content.
Agree that magazines have no right to pass readers questions on to a dealer for advice. Regardless of the fact of the dealer advertising in the magazine, the dealer only pays for the advertisment for a period of time and that is all the magazine need offer.
A magazine cannot be seen as being impartial if it feels it has to promote a particular product or dealer. I’m sure those who know more about these things, would say that all review items are on loan – but I don’t believe that. Suspect that more often or not, if the review is favourable, the review item will not be collected after the review has been made. May be a cliché, but look at the quality of the gear many reviewers possess.
For this reason, I have stopped reading the audio press – I’m sick of reading gushing reviews of mega-expensive equipment. As a case in point, the latest HFN has a ‘review’ of the latest Wilson speakers at £200,000 a pair (yes, you did read that correctly). They were powered by a pair of darTzeel monobocks, themselves available for a mere £150,000. So what was the outcome? – well the reviewers claimed it was the biggest raising of the bar for over 50 years (since the introduction of the Quad ’57). Well surprise, surprise. At that amount, it bloody well should be!
But my biggest complaint is that at these levels of performance and price, reviewers should be even more critical – it seems to me the quality of review and scrutiny is in inverse proportion to the cost, hence gushing reviews.
bobbasrah
03-09-2012, 17:43
Oddly enough Barry, I remember a time when the magazines were promoting a variety of best value combinations for all comers budget to high brow, now gone in favour of the $xm shop window as I guess they subsidise....
One can only hope that it does not further invade the forums, as that is where commerce has gone hunting, internet prostitution....
Hi Dave,
Ummm, I didn't think SME gives a huge margin, despite their high prices, but you may know better since I was never a huge dealer for them..
They don't, normally, but if you sell large amounts of product (as DC claims he does - and in that respect, I don't doubt him), then apparently you get very favourable terms. There's bugger all wrong with that of course; indeed I applaud it, but not when it's misused by DC to promote the sale of items from SME, in order to secure his favourable profit margin, at the expense of what's ultimately best for the customer :rolleyes:
I know of instances, for example, where he has sold people an SME 309 and AT-OC9, when what they'd initially wanted (and indeed had contacted him about in the first place) was a DL-103 and a Jelco 750!
Now, 'talking up a sale' is absolutely fine, and standard business practice, if it's prompted by a desire to look after the best long-term interests of the customer, rather than simply to secure the sale of items with a bigger profit margin, but the customers I'm referring to, of DC, have ended up being dissatisfied with the sonic results obtained from their purchases and consequently have now ended up going back to buying what they wanted in the first place...!!
Let's face it, both arm/cartridge combinations in question could hardly sound more different! And folk wonder why people are wary of buying from dealers?? :doh:
Before anyone asks, the people concerned don't post on AoS, although they read the forum. These are people who've contacted me in private, after having dealt with Cawley, and have read what I've written about him here (incidentally, all of which is true, based on my direct experience, provable and therefore not libellous), and are sorry that they hadn't read it first, before having bought from him. Those are the sentiments that have been genuinely expressed to me.
Chris,
I'd prefer this thread to move back to the question of ethical integrity of magazines - I never intended it to be a vehicle to discuss the dealer in question.
It's kind of difficult when the role of the dealer in question, and the advice he's giving to the readership of HFW, is central to the discussion... ;)
However, point taken and noted. It just annoys me when I see the kind of stunts this guy pulls, in order to line his pockets. 'Nuff said!
Marco.
Mr Kipling
03-09-2012, 19:45
Thought such skullduggery only went on in Dallas! If the individual should meet with an "accident" in the next day or two, I hope you will all have a good alibi.
Has anyone mentioned that at the end of the reply "Sound Hi - Fi" comes after his name? So surely any reader is going to take it that he's something other than just an audio journalist.
OK, what I mentioned previously regarding two dealers was different, it has to be said though that many, many, many moons previously, on the odd, rare occassion, you did get the likes of Paul Green or Howard Popeck (there was one other, but I just can't think of his name. Tended to recommend Thorens decks.) that would give a reply to a query. Looking back, I cannot say how biased their advice may or may not have been.
Thought such skullduggery only went on in Dallas! If the individual should meet with an "accident" in the next day or two, I hope you will all have a good alibi.
:lol: :lol:
Marco.
awkwardbydesign
03-09-2012, 20:27
For this reason, I have stopped reading the audio press – I’m sick of reading gushing reviews of mega-expensive equipment.
I resubscribed to HFN this year; got a nice digital IC "free". But I also lament the old departed mags, and I include HFN. I am still using the Ben Duncan designed active crossover published in HFN in 1981; as pointed out, it all seems to be consumer orientated now.
Most people are more susceptible to advertising & reviews today than they would care to admit, & unfortunately both advertising & journalistic standards have continued to deteriorate to the point where the line between the two has almost disapeared.
"Hi Fi magazine Ethics" is an oxymoron.
The Grand Wazoo
04-09-2012, 07:42
I'm waiting, but not holding my breath, for a reply to my email to HFW.
Audioman
04-09-2012, 14:45
I'm waiting, but not holding my breath, for a reply to my email to HFW.
Well having read the said question and answer I am tempted to join you. My main objection is Cawley just doesn't answer the question. Writer says he is considering Mitchel, OL, NA etc. Cawley goes on about his 12" adaptor for Jelco on Gyro and then dismisses with comment about too wobbly when having a few drinks.:steam: Then lists all the products he NOW sells - he doesn't sell the Jelco now after promoting it strongly a few years back ! I wonder why ? - cause he can sell you an SME309 for more on one of his modded Techies. This ignores the fact SME is probably better suited to the decks the questioner mentioned especialy the Gyro :doh:
anthonyTD
04-09-2012, 15:58
Hi All,
I wouldnt normaly comment on threads like this [for obvious reasons] however, i too think its a sad day for any HI FI mag when they resort to handing over their entrusted readers questions to the very people the reader was trying to avoid!
I grew up with HI FI world magazine, [my father purchased it without fail for many years] and thus felt that it was the magazine for the everyday man in the street, its views and opinions were trusted by many, also it always had interesting articles for the DIYers, and featured in my opinion' some of the best un-biased reviews of any of the top mags.:(
A...
Not sure if any of this is any worse than dealers pushing there stuff on forums.
At the end of the day mags and forums are guides not gospel.
Theadmans
04-09-2012, 16:49
HFW is the only mag I buy these days.
However, since David Price left as editor I feel the mag has gone down hill. I miss DPs writing and now I have learned today that Adam Smith (another good HFW writer) has jumped ship to go to HFN.
At this rate I may have stop buying the mag. Noel needs to get some new staff in fast.
Wakefield Turntables
04-09-2012, 16:57
HFW is the only mag I buy these days.
However, since David Price left as editor I feel the mag has gone down hill. I miss DPs writing and now I have learned today that Adam Smith (another good HFW writer) has jumped ship to go to HFN.
At this rate I may have stop buying the mag. Noel needs to get some new staff in fast.
Shame, I liked AS's column.
My main objection is Cawley just doesn't answer the question. Writer says he is considering Mitchel, OL, NA etc. Cawley goes on about his 12" adaptor for Jelco on Gyro and then dismisses with comment about too wobbly when having a few drinks.:steam: Then lists all the products he NOW sells - he doesn't sell the Jelco now after promoting it strongly a few years back ! I wonder why ? - cause he can sell you an SME309 for more on one of his modded Techies. This ignores the fact SME is probably better suited to the decks the questioner mentioned especialy the Gyro :doh:
Utter bollox, innit? It makes you weep!
Oh, and the reason Dave Cawley doesn't sell the Jelco anymore is because too many eBay retailers are now selling it cheaper than he can, so the nice margin he used to get at the beginning, before the Jelco became so popular (in many ways thanks to the likes of AoS), is no longer the case.
However, as you say, he makes up for it now with the nice big margin he gets from SME! Quite simply, people should know this before buying from him, as he'll just steer you towards what he can make the most profit from, as evidenced by his 'recommendations' to the reader on HFW.
Incidentally, he'll have a stall, for Sound Hi-fi, right at the entrance of the Whittlebury Hall show, two weeks on Saturday, so why not pop in, folks, and say hello?
Marco.
sq225917
04-09-2012, 18:06
Big man, what day are you going?
Whatever the OP's intentions, this thread has turned into a slagfest aimed at someone with no right of reply, and is against the AoS Ethos which states that AoS is opposed to:
Defamatory comments about any manufacturers or dealers.
Defamatory comments about any other member of this forum or any other hi-fi forum.
Whatever the OP's intentions, this thread has turned into a slagfest aimed at someone with no right of reply...
Sorry, Joe. That rule doesn't apply to people who have their own forum (as Dave Cawley does), where they have a public voice, and thus plenty of right of reply, should they choose to use it. This is the reason why Richard Dunn's comments on his forum about AoS are discussed here sometimes, despite him also being banned.
In all other circumstances, however, you are right, and that rule will be rigidly applied :)
Marco.
Big man, what day are you going?
Lol - probably none, as I've got stuff on up here, but you never know, I might make a surprise appearance! ;)
Marco.
There is no ethics left in hifi mags and very little in the industry as a whole.
The Grand Wazoo
05-09-2012, 07:51
I'm waiting, but not holding my breath, for a reply to my email to HFW.
I've just realised that my 'Letter to the Editor' could, in all probability, have been passed on to a knowledgeable hi-fi dealer to answer. I wonder what he'll say?
Perhaps I'd better start saving for an SME then!
Floyddroid
05-09-2012, 13:38
I think you have a valid point. though it is rather like being a kiddie in a candy store. if you are in an elevated position in such institutions it may become too much to bare having such temptations put your way. There is an ethical dilemma here. It would be very easy to put it down to basic human nature. But who's human nature? The strong or the weak willed? I think that accepting such payola sends out a vibe to many that it is they the companies and individuals placing adverts and review equipment with reviewers that control your publication and not the editorial staff. for the most part i am with Mr Wazoo!
I've just realised that my 'Letter to the Editor' could, in all probability, have been passed on to a knowledgeable hi-fi dealer to answer.
Hehehehe... Well, in that case, Cawley won't be handling it, so worry not! :lol:
Marco.
TopBalcony
07-09-2012, 18:32
At least HFW are being transparent. Imagine if they feigned independence whilst recommending products that had limited supply/distribution by advertisers...
Ah, transparent, that explains why I can't make head nor tail of it... :scratch::D
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