iGame Radio

It’s been a long-standing viewpoint in journalism that in order for the public to accept the views of journalists, they must retain a financially independent relationship from the market they are covering. Apparently, someone didn’t get the memo.

Two iPhone app review sites, TheiPhoneAppReview.com and AppCraver.com, have been accused by several independent developers of charging fees for app reviews without disclosing that fact on their websites. You can read the details of the controversy in the article and associated links, but that’s not what this post is about.

This post is about my thoughts regarding ethical reviews, and why paying for reviews is wrong.

Paying for a review is not technically illegal. However, it is a questionable practice and one that the FTC and the world of journalism looks down upon. And it is illegal when you don’t disclose the fact that you practice it. It means that the public can’t make their own decision about whether the review is fair or not, having not been fully informed of the details behind its creation.

I have two audiences that I focus on when I write a review for a game. I have my listeners, who want to know which games they should be getting and which ones they should be avoiding. I have to be honest to them when reviewing a game, because if I give glowing reviews to games that don’t deserve it, they will stop trusting me.

I also have game developers. They want to get publicity for their hard work, and reviews are one way to do it. I don’t ever charge for any reviews that I do. Most games that I review I do get for free (there are some games that I’ve actually purchased for one reason or another), and I have received freebies along with media kits, such as custom-made cookies, candy, or a t-shirt. They’re great, and make no impact whatsoever on my reviews. I mean, if I stopped receiving them because I did a review that a developer or publisher didn’t like, what would be the worst that could happen? I’d have to stop looking for places to put all of those extra t-shirts?

In fact, I consider that I do a bit of a service to developers, in that I am providing a critique of the game that will hopefully help them make the game, or future games, better. And many developers enjoy my feedback and have said so. In a way, I could even justify a fee from that standpoint.

But that isn’t what they are asking me to do. They are asking me to provide them with publicity. Asking it for free means that they get the best review I can give. They can’t ask for anything more for free. But if they pay for it, don’t I owe them the best publicity I can give them? After all, that is what they are paying for. The focus of the review shifts from the listener to the developer.

And that is why one should never charge for a review, nor should one ever pay for a review.

IMHO.