Where’s That Line Between Reporting and Opinion Again?

Something about the Idaho Business Review’s cover story this week about “Greenwashing” just rubbed me the wrong way.

Maybe it’s the interviews that seem to end with more questions than answers.

Maybe it’s because Simon Shifrin takes a residential developer, and their agency, to task in a thinly veiled ‘you’re not being open and honest’ sort of way about their business motivations. Let’s not even get into the quoting (somewhat out of context) from the agency’s website, without any actual contact with the agency itself.

Or it could just be the “me too” reporting — writing about “green” activities, environmentally friendly stories and such is all the rage these days, so if the IBR doesn’t cover it, they must be behind the times.

This, my all accounts, is much more of an op/ed piece than business reporting. And I don’t think I’m alone in that opinion. Rick Carpenter, Robb Hicken et. al., you shouldn’t have let this story out the door the way it was published.

Of course, I could just be way off base. Been known to happen before…

Oh, and by the way Simon, it’s Stoltz Marketing Group, not Stolz Marketing Group.

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2 Replies to “Where’s That Line Between Reporting and Opinion Again?”

  1. I couldn’t agree more.

    The idea to dive into some of these local/universal marketing issues was great. But, boy, the borderline hack journalism (“Many Idaho companies have been stepping into these murky waters and highlighting their efforts to go green, though some are clearly wary of taking their claims too far.”)is not up to IBRs standards.

    I made my dissatisfaction known via a comment on their site: http://tiny.cc/D6lnI

  2. Brian,
    My Pop just came back from Turkey and he said they put the facts on one side of the page and opinion on the other. It’s pretty cool when you can get different points of view on stuff that’s happening. This is the way to go as far as I’m concerned.
    George

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