Should the O.C. Register’s Total Buzz promote the Red County and the Lib OC blogs?

I thought that surely by now the O.C. Register’s Total Buzz blog would have taken down their free advertising for the Red County and Liberal OC Blogs, but I had a look at their site today, and sure enough – the ads are still there.

This is of course a massive conflict of interest.  And it is without precedent.  It is one thing to offer links to other blogs, but to advertise them?  For free?  That is quite another.

Total Buzz reporter Martin Wisckol is known to pal around with the bloggers at Red County and the Liberal OC.  Small wonder then that he ignores stories of corrupt politicians who are allied with those blogs.  But he never misses a chance to have a whack at me, or my blog.

Wisckol told me today the ads for these blogs are an “editorial agreement,” whatever that means.

I had a look today at the L.A. Times, to see if they were advertising any local political blogs on their political pages.  Nope.  They aren’t.  Perhaps their editors still care about the integrity of their newspaper.

This came up today, as I received an email from Wisckol, asking about the Liberal OC’s hypocritical lawsuit against us.  Does anyone think this guy is going to report the facts objectively?  Sure he will.  Not.  He hasn’t up until now, why change at this point?

It’s not like the Liberal OC speaks for local Democrats.  They don’t.  There are many other liberal blogs in town now, and we do a darn good job of covering liberal politics here at the Orange Juice too, under the capable management of our editor, Vern Nelson, a past Democratic Party Volunteer of the Year.  And then there is the Progressive OC Blog and the new OC Democrats blog.  Plus the DPOC has a blog too.  So why advertise the Liberal OC – a blog that is not even discernibly liberal?

And what about Red County?  They got caught this summer shilling for Meg Whitman.  She may have lost, but they made a mint.  Why advertise these yahoos?

I don’t get it.  But, again, perhaps the O.C. Register’s editors no longer care about ethics or their image.  You can contact Wisckol’s editor, John Dunphy, via email by clicking here.

UP’DATE: Wisckol is now saying that he links to the Lib OC and Red County because of their stature and credibility.  What a joke!  If the Lib OC spent half as much time fighting Republicans as they do attacking Democrats they might be somewhat interesting, but for all of their “stature” they can never muster even half the hits we get here at the Orange Juice.  As for Red County, they are nothing more than paid shills…


About Art Pedroza