Gizmodo Prank at CES. Victims may be bloggers

The clever hacks at Gizmodo pulled a prank at CES making all those TV screens go blank all at once, then filming and posting it, I assume very much to their own sophomoric satisfaction. As Webware Rafe Needleman put it:

"The video is funny. The ramifications of prank will not be. The CES organizers only grudgingly gave bloggers press credentials to the conference, and even then kept them segregated into a working lounge that was a step down in amenity and luxury from the "press" lounge and work area. This prank will not endear the blogging class to either the CEA, which produces CES, or the companies that paid dearly for the right to occupy CES floorspace and show off their products."

A did a short stint doing PR for CEA. It gets press requests from thousands of people all over the world. It has an historic preference for traditional media that has been slowly, slowly melting over the past decade. CES is their event and they have the right to admit or prohibit bloggers. Even if you concede that bloggers are journalists, CES has the option of picking and choosing who gets admitted for free and who does not.

Gizmodo's poor judgement amazes me. Not only do they give bloggers in general a black eye. But they are gadget guys and this is the biggest show of the year for them. I would guess that next year, they will pay retail to get through the door and once through it, they will not be credentialed to attend events where news they should cover will unfold.

On the other hand, they probably will think up a clever ruse to get through the door anyhow.

Comments

[Michael Krigsman]

I completely agree that juvenile pranks, while fun and cool, should be constrained to the appropriate time and place. Gizmodo really blew it.

[Mike Butcher]

Shel I totally see this point of view. But isn't there the argument that this will play to Gizmodo's largely youthful tech audience, increase their numbers and give them even more audience? Even when some PR people hate a title or journalist, they often still let them into something because of the weight of their influence. Banning Gizmodo would further increase their hip/martyr status, fanning the traffic. Or am I wrong?

[shel israel]

Mike, nice to hear from you. I think this issue has more to do with integrity and intelligence than in gaining ratings. Nick has been talking about being more journalistic at Gizmodo. Does he mean like the NY Times or the NY Post? How does he serve the interests of a young, hip audience if he cannot get in the room to cover products for young, hip people?

[yndygo]

Spot on.
It only takes one juvenile stunt for all tech-bloggers to be painted as 'potential troublemakers.'
Hard won ground can be lost all too easily.

Gizmodo ought to apologize to everyone else for their behavior.

[John Minnihan]

Ok, so it's a gadget show, and the TV-B-Gone is...a gadget. No one saw this coming??

This requires line-of-sight, right? Um, block the receiver IR port.

[Dennis Howlett]

Heh - all you folks tarring bloggers - Gizmodo went as accredited press. Good to see fact checking is alive and well.

[shel israel]

Dennis,
If you want to tell me I botched a fact, you are welcome to do so. But words like "all you folks," come across as someone with less class than I know you to have. Besides, last time I checked you were one of us "you folks."

[Rick Calvert]

Shel you have some idea how much a company like Motorola pays to exhibit at an event like CES. For some companies CES can make their entire year. This wasn't a harmless prank, it was a malicious interference with peoples livelihoods.

They should consider themselves lucky if they aren't banned from attending the event altogether and or sued. Both of which they deserve.

As for the suggestion that CES "has to let them in" because they are so influential; baloney. Having a blog even a very popular one does not make you immune to consequences.

[former gizmodo fan]

It's not like CES or the companies attending need Gizmodo there; there will be plenty of other blogs there to take its place and cover the show just as throughly.

[Dave Taylor]

As a blogger who has had press credentials for years, I am rather horrified by what the Gizmodo people apparently did. I think Rick is spot on - as are you, Shel - when you both say that this is going to have potentially negative ramifications for all tech bloggers and online journalists.

This was a stupid prank and too widespread to have remained amusing anyway. Once, one wall of displays, but during a presentation from Motorola, for example, a presentation that might have well been the culmination of years of work by a team of hundreds of people, that's just malicious and there's no humor in it at all. If I were at one of these firms, I'd burn a copy of the Giz video onto a DVD player and sue the daylights out of 'em for lost business and compromised opportunities. Sheesh!

[shel israel]

Dennis, Now I get what you were talking about. Over at Valleywag, they assault Rafe for calling what they did a "sophmoric prank." They say that Rafe should get his facts right because Gizmodo was their as credentially journalists, not blogger losers like SOME people. The problem is I'm the one who called it a sophomoric prank, not Rafe. Valleywag should get their facts right, don't you think?

[Joe Hunkins]

She'll - excellent insight here, except the credit for a "hack" . This required only an IQ above 70

[Michael Markman]

Gizmodo lost my good will because of this. But I'd be very surprised if CEA imposes a collective punishment on all bloggers. The vast majority of companies at CES would get no coverage at all if not for the blogs., The bog dogs must be livid about this stunt, but shutting out the bloggers would not be to their advantage either. Without blogs, they'd only get coverage on a few of their products.

I'd be even more surprised if Valleywag began to take an effort to get their facts straight.

[Rick Calvert]

Sorry for posting the comment multiple times (. not sure how that happened.

[shel israel]

No problem, Rick. Happens all the time and it's easy to fix.

[Nicole Simon]

I agree with you. Yet those companies going to 'the' tech event, TV B-Gone being around for really some time AND people announcing before that they will use TV B-Gone means that there is fault with the companies as well.

Not that this takes anything off Gizmodo, mind you.

[Mike Rundle]

I cringed as I watched their video and felt terrible for the people it affected. Just like one commenter said, these presentations are the culmination of some serious organization and effort and could absolutely affect business and share price.

If Gizmodo pulled a similar prank at a Steve Jobs keynote at Macworld, Gawker Media would be hung from the rafters by the public. I think it's unfair that no repercussions have been seen (so far) simply because they messed with a company that has a smaller fanbase.

[John Minnihan]

When I initially heard about this, I thought: "silly prank played by kids on the adults", and thus my focus on the obvious prevention of the deed in the first place.

After reading a lot more about it, especially the potential economic impact on the display vendors, I now think it was incredibly boorish and quite likely actionable behavior on Gizmodo's part. I'm betting their counsel are winching at the video/written confession.

[JT]

While I think it was a bad call on Gizmodo's part to pull this prank, I also think people should be upset with Phil Torrone from Make Magazine. If Phil didn't give them the units, Gizmodo wouldn't of had anything to play with.

[Mike Cane]

What Gizmodo did begins and ends with Gizmodo. It shouldn't smear others. If the NY Post does a headline -- as they once did -- "Headless Corpse In Topless Bar," are all newspapers condemned?

Gizmodo will probably be banned both from CES and by the individual vendors they sabotaged.

It was stupid.

[Geoff Livingston]

Common sense did not prevail, but I think the folks at CEA know better than to bail on bloggers because of this. Gary and Todd are sharp men, and know where the trends are moving.

This is a great message to bloggers in general, that while every man may have a pen, they do not have a license to act like A-holes. Freedom differs from privileges in someone else's home (show, business).

[John Q. Public]

Am I the only one who finds it hypocritical that the Goo Goo Ga Ga Gizmodo pre-school pranksters had so much fun with the very device they ripped to shreds in an earlier review?

http://gizmodo.com/archives/tvbgone-023694.php