Blogging For Gifts – A teenager’s Lesson

As I was sitting this morning watching the snow accumulate from my office window, I came across this article that made me think.. “Is it bribery or is it capitalism to get compensation to Blog as an intern?”

Techcrunch (Excellent covering technology news, Web 2.0 )is a well respected blog that I subscribe to and I was reading the aplology they  issued issued about the teenager (I will only use the intern’s initials here (DB)) they fired when DB admitted to taking compensation  (gifts) for blogging about a startup he was doing a write up on.. The intern in question was of course suspended and terminated, but it raised for me a moral dilemma.

Question: Are we as  bloggers are morally obligated to NOT accept compensation in any form, or is it acceptable get compensated for our write ups?

When I used to blog on Blogger, earning money from my blog was encouraged.  I know here at WordPress this against the “rules of usage”.  I totally respect this principle

DB was wrong with what he did, but have you googled, blogging for revenue? You will get thousands of ideas on how you can make money from blogging. I think DB took this idea to an extreme and as I can see from his posting, he truly apologetic for his error in judgement. Yet, for me as a teenager (I’m role playing here) being offered (requesting) compensation, I think the temptation to be compensated for my writing would be too great.

As parents we teach our children “to do the right thing” yet we also encourage them “to reach for the stars”,  be it via achievements,  financially or  socio-economicallly.

Yes what DB did was wrong.. Yet, I would think that society’s morals need to be questioned here. What would you do?  When I sit back and think, this answer is hard for me to answer.

On one hand I applaud DB for making the most of his opportunity. On the other hand, I think what DB did was reprehensible. I’m actually torn between these two emotions.

Have I gone off my moral compass? I probably have, but after what I see in the corporate world on a day by day basis, the rewards for being diligent and hard work is at times highly suspect.  In many corporation, it’s not what you know or how you do it, it ‘s the perception of what you do to reach your objectives.. Yet this is a topic for another day.

DB’ s apology on his site is genuine no doubt. Yet in this capitilistic society, did the punishment fit the crime?

From DB’s Blog entry:

This is the first day of the next learning stage for me. Yes, I am young, but from here, I can only learn more. To my family, friends, colleagues and especially, TechCrunch, I am sorry. I am taking this entire experience, learning and moving on.

I’m sure that this is one of the most controversial postings I’ve made AND I’m leaving myself open to flames from my readers..