on bloggers & blogging

... probably the biggest challenge to blogs are those who cynically emulate their form without their soul.

An independent blogger's greatest asset, besides wit, energy, bravery, and doggedness, is sincerity. We read them to hear a credible independent voice -- not the shills of a corporation, lobbying group, a government agency, or a party. But now it seems that every auto company, PR firm, and politician is taking up blogging -- to sell us the same old pitches in a sleek new package. Some bloggers, unfortunately, are selling out and jumping on the payroll of corporations and political parties.

Read the above from a David D. Perlmutter article in editorandpublisher.com

Are we bloggers selling out our soul? Is blogging turning into just another marketing medium? What about bloggers like Robert Scoble who though being in the Microsoft payroll & whose posts blatantly advertise MSFT products has his own views expressed on almost anything & everything and still get away with it?