There seems to be no end to pranks and jokes being had by folks these days. Humour is a great release as long as it doesn’t go too far. Apparently a staffer from Gizmodo (full disclosure, I once applied for a weekend editor position with them) aimed a device at banks of plasma screens at CES rendering them inoperable.
Not smart.
In a struggle (and it has been) for bloggers to be taken seriously this is a blow against us to be certain. From the site Webware we read this:
I would not be surprised to see Gizmodo banned from the show and possibly sued by either the CEA or the companies its bloggers harassed. For journalists (in my mind, all bloggers are journalists), legal and constitutional protection does not extend to mischief or sabotage. Publishing news reports, opinion, and satire are protected acts. Physical interference is not.
Agreed.
This is a case where someone went too far and as a result has possibly jeopardized conference attendance for the rest of us. These conferences (ie. CES) are for vendors to show their wares in an effort to make a buck. These folks can do without some half wit ruining what could be a future business opportunity for them. If you want to poke fun at the vendors from your respective site then fill your boots.
The Gizmodo response:
It was too much fun, but watching this video, we realize it probably made some people’s jobs harder, and I don’t agree with that (Especially Motorola). We’re sorry.
Not as sorry as the rest of us will be if conferences start banning other bloggers based on this nonsense. As for Gizmodo, the pain has already begun to kick in. The Consumer Electronics Assoc. dropped the boom on the Gawker Media owned site.
We have been informed of inappropriate behavior on the show floor by a credentialed media attendee from the Web site Gizmodo, owned by Gawker Media. Specifically, the Gizmodo staffer interfered with the exhibitor booth operations of numerous companies, including disrupting at least one press event. The Gizmodo staffer violated the terms of CES media credentials and caused harm to CES exhibitors. This Gizmodo staffer has been identified and will be barred from attending any future CES events. Additional sanctions against Gizmodo and Gawker Media are under discussion.
I hope this doesn’t mess things up for the rest of us.
[tags]CES, Gizmodo Banned, Blogger Banned, CES Gizmodo Prank[/tags]
