Alex LuftA piece of the web dedicated to me… by me!

-Revised Oct 9, 2008, 7:47AM EST: fixed Paul’s last name in title.

While listening to a backdated episode of the Windows Weekly podcast (#67) yesterday afternoon, I realized something interesting about the relationship between journalism and popularity.  Paul Thurrott (co-host of the show with Leo Laporte and of WinSuperSite fame) was explaining how he is giving away and selling certain items he no longer needs: books, DVDs, tech hardware, software, etc. He said that it’s a collaborative process with himself and his wife to de-clutter the home.  But what really caught my attention was the clear distinction he placed when giving away or selling said items.

Like many journalists and tech reporters, Paul receives many review units that he is not required to return. He distinctly said during the podcast that these items are not for sale: he will simply give them away for free.  Obviously, this is the right and ethical thing to do: no conflict-of-interest issues can arise here.

Moreover, there were also items that Paul was selling for a very small fee - not expecting to send his kids “to school”, as he explained.  These items he purchased himself. But what really caught my attention was that he was conducting said giveaways and sales not on his revenue-generating website (WinSuperSite, which is an excellent tech site - by the way).  Rather, he was referring people to visit his old website - internet-nexus.com for the items.  Simply put, no monetary gains from increased website traffic to WinSuperSite were made by Paul during this giveaway/sales event.

This is such a cordial thing to do and is something that isn’t seen in much of the current generation of tech journalists, writers, or reviewers.  It seems that so many of these professionals (and small-time-writers) have used giveaways and other promotional techniques to lure people to their site and/or generate web traffic (yes, I’m looking at you Mr. Kevin Rose and that iPhone). I recognize Paul for his ethics and class: he is now heads and shoulders above the rest.

I just wish that more would follow by example.