Blurry vision for Wal-Mart blog

A photographer for the Washington Post found himself in hot water earlier this month, after it was disclosed that he had done some freelance work for Wal-Mart.

Jim Thresher shot photos for a pro-Wal-Mart blog during a cross-country trip. The paper has ordered him to remove the photos and to repay travel expenses covered by Working Families for Wal-Mart, a group that advocates for the chain and used the photos on its Web site, Editor & Publisher reported.

The incident caused both old and new media to shake their heads. Traditional media analysts focused on the ethics of a photographer working for a company that he may be required to cover, and many bloggers were outraged over the creation of a "fake" blog. Wal-Mart's PR firm, Edelman, also came in for its share of abuse.

Blog community response:

"Edelman wanted to make consumers think that Wal-Mart is a hip place that you'd want to use as the anchor point for a roadtrip. The problem is it's not. And because blogging is not a control-based medium, Edelman couldn't make Wal-Mart appear to be something it's not. It rang false, and they got caught."
--Publishing 2.0

"I suppose the take home message is that if you're going to sponsor a blog either be completely transparent all the way - risking the authenticity of the message, but perhaps done in a 'wink-wink' fashion."
--Deep Jive Interests

"This doesn't just cause confusion by blurring the lines between blogging and payola, or blog-vertising, but it arguably does Edelman harm too - and that would be a shame, since they are the PR firm that probably walks the walk the most when it comes to blogging and the conversation (the Wal-Marting Across America blog has a post that puts all the blame on Wal-Mart haters)."
--Mathew Ingram