We all know that the most respected and credible media outlets never allow their journalists to be "bought" in exchange for editorial. These media have traditions of anti-corruption and thus their editorial is trusted by many.

Is the same to be expected of the blogosphere? Of late, I've seen an increase in bloggers being "bought" with products to keep after a review is done or other freebies received in exchange for a posting or two; not to mention controversial services such as PayPerPost.

Two days back, an senior colleague mentioned to me that she (a grandmother believe it or not) felt that some bloggers who were receiving and keeping some products PR folks offer them are starting to loose credibility.

She said quite plainly that she finds it hard to trust these bloggers simply because they so obviously can be bought.

We've all seen the discussions on proposed codes-of-conduct, but this got me thinking. Are we as PR practitioners just hungry (or even greedy) for clippings or do we truly want to help our media friends?

Product reviews are by no means wrong, but creating "ambassadors" through gifts can dramatically "cheapen" a blogger and his/her blog. No matter how you dice it, a blog is still a media platform powered by a corruptible human. That means credibility in the eyes of the readers still matter.

What makes things worse is that most bloggers are not trained as journalists and have no tradition or culture in media credibility. This is dangerous and could seriously damage the blogosphere as a media.

Being a blogger myself, I understand this quite personally. When a journalist looses credibility the newspaper takes a hit, but can recover after firing the corrupt and striving for excellence again. When a blogger gets hit, it's a mark for life.