It's no secret that for-profit audio publications rely heavily on advertising revenue in order to remain profitable and financially solvent. However, unlike (for example) peer-reviewed medical journals, in which the authors of published scientific papers are required to fully disclose any financial links or funding from the pharmaceutical industry, etc., the audio reviewing industry seems to be free from any such ethical or financial disclosures.
Indeed, there are numerous other examples of similar ethical standards within our culture and society. As another example, politicians are yet another group of individuals who must report any financial ties to lobbyists, special interest groups, political organizations, campaign contributors, industries, etc.
Those entities who are governed by such strict ethical constraints are held to this degree of accountability and self-disclosure in order to discourage, prevent, and punish such things as conflicts-of-interest, unfair trading practices, sweetheart deals, influence-peddling, or other such anti-competitive liaisons. Those entities falling under such ethical guidelines are typically expected to avoid accepting any "gifts" or other special treatments or perks which could very well lead to special treatment, anti-competitiveness, and unfair advantages. Examples here would include expensive meals and bar bills; transportation expenses; lodging; expensive gifts, and other such generous "perks".
On the other hand, the arcane world of commercial
audio-review publications remains exempt from this sort of ethical oversight and financial self-disclosure/accountability. I can't recall any audio review in which the publisher disclosed the amount of money spent by the manufacturer or distributor (as well as any other "special treatment" the manufacturer or distributor had to provide) in order to best facilitate the review of their product.
In addition, I've never seen an audio-review journal publish a comparitive record of the annual advertising revenue it has received from a given manufacturer or distributor, along with the number of product reviews it has published for that same product-line within the same period of time.
It's no secret that for-profit audio publications rely heavily on advertising revenue in order to remain profitable and financially solvent. However, unlike (for example) peer-reviewed medical journals, in which the authors of published scientific papers are required to fully disclose any financial links or funding from the pharmaceutical industry, etc., the audio reviewing industry seems to be free from any such ethical or financial disclosures.
Indeed, there are numerous other examples of similar ethical standards within our culture and society. As another example, politicians are yet another group of individuals who must report any financial ties to lobbyists, special interest groups, political organizations, campaign contributors, industries, etc.
Those entities who are governed by such strict ethical constraints are held to this degree of accountability and self-disclosure in order to discourage, prevent, and punish such things as conflicts-of-interest, unfair trading practices, sweetheart deals, influence-peddling, or other such anti-competitive liaisons. Those entities falling under such ethical guidelines are typically expected to avoid accepting any "gifts" or other special treatments or perks which could very well lead to special treatment, anti-competitiveness, and unfair advantages. Examples here would include expensive meals and bar bills; transportation expenses; lodging; expensive gifts, and other such generous "perks".
On the other hand, the arcane world of commercial
audio-review publications remains exempt from this sort of ethical oversight and financial self-disclosure/accountability. I can't recall any audio review in which the publisher disclosed the amount of money spent by the manufacturer or distributor (as well as any other "special treatment" the manufacturer or distributor had to provide) in order to best facilitate the review of their product.
In addition, I've never seen an audio-review journal publish a comparitive record of the annual advertising revenue it has received from a given manufacturer or distributor, along with the number of product reviews it has published for that same product-line within the same period of time.