5 ms·

> There's plenty of gray area ... There's not. Journalism and politics have this covered: NO GIFTS. It's really that simple.

Kiro 10y ago
What about giving a discount to customers who let me use their testimonials on my site?
- enraged_camel 10y ago
  This one is pretty clear: if they wrote the testimonial before receiving the discount, and did not have the expectation that they were going to receive a discount, then that's OK, because their testimonials are not biased by the discount.
  - Kiro 10y ago
    And the other way around? Let's say I have a campaign. "Write a testimonial and get a discount.". I mean, they can write whatever they want.
chris_va 10y ago
What constitutes a gift is definitely a gray area, and very culturally specific. It's nice to want things to be black and white, but reality doesn't always line up.
- enraged_camel 10y ago
  This is why most government agencies have strict policies to never accept any sort of favor from organizations or people they do business with. Even if it's a "I'll pay for lunch next time, you can pay next time." Basically, if there is even a remote chance that the action could be misconstrued as a gift when viewed from the outside, it's politely rejected.
  - tbihl 10y ago
    I was part of a government group that regularly accepted airfare, lodging, and meals. There was demand for us, but we didn't have the funding to travel on our own. One time this created a funny situation where a pro sports team flew us out on their private jet. While we were in the air, they were about to hand out hats with their logo on them, and the head of our group had to stop that until he could consult the lawyers about that gift. It felt like an overreaction in the particular situation, to say the least.
erichocean 10y ago
> NO GIFTS. Uh, every single time a "journalist" is easy on a subject so that they can get future access, that's a gift from the subject in exchange for them going easy. Journalism as actually practiced is almost a definition of what a "gift" culture is, especially political journalism.

Kiro 10y ago

What about giving a discount to customers who let me use their testimonials on my site?

enraged_camel 10y ago
This one is pretty clear: if they wrote the testimonial before receiving the discount, and did not have the expectation that they were going to receive a discount, then that's OK, because their testimonials are not biased by the discount.
- Kiro 10y ago
  And the other way around? Let's say I have a campaign. "Write a testimonial and get a discount.". I mean, they can write whatever they want.

chris_va 10y ago

What constitutes a gift is definitely a gray area, and very culturally specific. It's nice to want things to be black and white, but reality doesn't always line up.

enraged_camel 10y ago
This is why most government agencies have strict policies to never accept any sort of favor from organizations or people they do business with. Even if it's a "I'll pay for lunch next time, you can pay next time." Basically, if there is even a remote chance that the action could be misconstrued as a gift when viewed from the outside, it's politely rejected.
- tbihl 10y ago
  I was part of a government group that regularly accepted airfare, lodging, and meals. There was demand for us, but we didn't have the funding to travel on our own. One time this created a funny situation where a pro sports team flew us out on their private jet. While we were in the air, they were about to hand out hats with their logo on them, and the head of our group had to stop that until he could consult the lawyers about that gift. It felt like an overreaction in the particular situation, to say the least.

erichocean 10y ago

> NO GIFTS. Uh, every single time a "journalist" is easy on a subject so that they can get future access, that's a gift from the subject in exchange for them going easy. Journalism as actually practiced is almost a definition of what a "gift" culture is, especially political journalism.