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Would anyone be interested in a camera gear reviewer ethics website?


John Matthews
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I'd like to know if people would be interested in a camera gear reviewer website? A website that would clearly state (maybe even index) the ethics of camera gear reviewers on the Internet. The intention would be to help people make purchases.

Recently, I've seen ethics statements from camera gear reviewers (Gerald Undone and MKBHD, for example), but these statements are far and few between. There are a whole host of websites and youtube channels who have been overrun by various industries. My feeling is there are payoffs, under-the-table deals, and gross mis-statements in regard to camera gear. The results of the reviews can be clearly misguided and inaccurate. Is there a way to rectify the situation with a website to clearly layout and help reviewers and their audience understand how they've been influenced by camera gear companies (and the PR firms that help them) with regard to their "reviews"?

Any feedback would be appreciated. Maybe this type of site already exists? Maybe it's a stupid ideas.

BTW, I'm not saying I'd create the website or be involved in any way, shape or form.

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Sounds interesting. Maybe it has an synergetic effect on a genereal understanding of the grammar of truth. Review sites draw just the right audience to be interested enough in the truthfulness of reviews and being interested on spending their hard earned money comeptently. The geekyness of the subject and readers might implement a general curiosity which could transfer to subjects as climate change and such as well. Yes, a site like that would be cool with great effects on educating about truth in general.

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13 minutes ago, PannySVHS said:

Sounds interesting. Maybe it has an synergetic effect on a genereal understanding of the grammar of truth. Review sites draw just the right audience to be interested enough in the truthfulness of reviews and being interested on spending their hard earned money comeptently. The geekyness of the subject and readers might implement a general curiosity which could transfer to subjects as climate change and such as well. Yes, a site like that would be cool with great effects on educating about truth in general.

I think it would be great to reward the reviewers making a genuine effort to be clear in an ethics statement. Are they taking money? Were they flown to a camera release show? What were the expectations? What was paid for? If they gave a "bad" review, did the company offer money to take it down? When did they film the review? These are all things commonplace in the biz today according to Gerald Undone. How is it we're not hearing more talk about ethics then? I don't think anyone could say the answers to these questions wouldn't have an impact on a review.

Yes, it could have a positive impact in other ways too. However, it seems the idea of what is "fake" has now been put into question. Black is now grey and so is white. We no longer have isolated lies- it's a firehose. No fact-checker can actually keep up. Ninety-nine percent of experts agree on something and the ONE expert who disagrees gets significant airtime due to sponsorship. We need something.

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The problem is it is not just about money, or financial reward in other ways.

The way Youtube is set up, video makers are bumped up the rankings by the number of views their videos get, and by how long viewers are engaged. One major way to achieve that is to be the first to review a new product.

All the camera companies have to do to discourage any negativity is to not offer a Youtube reviewer a new product, or be slow in offering it. No money has changed hands.

In the music gear game, backhanders has long been a problem. Magazines rely on gear advertising for their income, so would be hesitant to give an item a bad review in case the manufacturer pulled their advertising. What happened was that magazines would only review gear they could be positive about.

Maybe the same will eventually happen on Youtube. If a new bit of gear doesn't get reviewed much, read into that most reviewers thought it was garbage.

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I wonder if a "badge" system would be a good idea. It could be easier for reviewers to create a simple logo to communicated with their audience about what they accepted in return for their review. Obviously, the top badge could be the ones who bought the device when it came out and accepted absolutely nothing in return. A lower badge would be company x gave the device, money, trip, accommodation, food, "professional" entertainment and the such.

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