A blog post made by Scott Wilson and shared to Google+ by Melina M had me contemplating the question. Have I (we) been blacklisted by Apple? Within the Google+ conversation Andrew Gorgi posted a link to a Mike Elgan article from 2013 that had me thinking deeper and answering the question at hand with, possibly. Andrew posted three simple questions to determine my possible eligibility for the Apple blacklist.
Apple Press Blacklist (If you have published any of these, you have been blacklisted for life.)
– Mentioned Apple in a negative way? Yes we have.
– Mentioned Product X is better than Apple Product? Yes we have.
– Leaked Apple Product before official Announcement? No we haven’t
So if these are the deciding factors on making the Apple blacklist for media then I suppose I (we) am indeed on the list. How do I feel about possibly being on the blacklist? Well, a mix of emotions. On the one hand I don’t really care if someone wants to blacklist me or the site because we’ve reported something that didn’t portray that company’s desired image. We’re here to service the readers not to be an advertising mouth for a company and we’ve reported both the good and bad. On the other hand, I feel a little offended as well. Why? Well, I love Apple products, I use them daily (iPhone 6+, iPad Air, MacBook Pro and MacBook). There are many great things about Apple products but there are equally some things that just suck. It feels a bit childish to me that a billion dollar company would act in such a way. We’re not their marketing team here. If we honestly like the products we say so. If we honestly have a problem with the products we say so. If you violate laws or make stupid choices that hurt others we’ll report it. That’s our job. Part of being a good and responsible company is taking the good press and the bad equally. Attempting to manipulate media outlets and skew publicity to your side is a jerkface move. Then blackmailing them by shutting them out of your world for writing bad press, well, I can’t write my thoughts on that as we try to keep things PG-13 around here. Mike Elgan had this to say about Apple’s blacklist and “lower-level” bloggers (which is where he’d probably place us).
The worst thing about Apple’s press blacklist system is that it encourages self-censorship in lower-level bloggers, writers and editors. A young person trying to make a career in technology journalism will benefit from better access to Apple if they’re overtly pro-Apple in their coverage and avoid negative coverage.
Mike goes on to make some seriously great points throughout his extensive piece, which you should read here. We’re a fresh publication here, as is our geek site, maybe we missed the Apple boat by coming right out and reporting the bad along with the good about Apple and making their blacklist. But I can safely say, we have no regrets in doing so. We’ll continue on the same path regardless of the name of the company or what they could do to help our publication reporting both good and bad. To Apple I say – we have no agenda to try and tear your company down. Our agenda is to provide our readers with the most transparent information we possibly can. That’s the same attitude you should have when thinking about your potential customers and user base. When you make a good product, we’ll acknowledge it and when you misstep, we’ll report that as well. Even being put on the blacklist will not sway our good opinions of your products. As the great Homey the Clown said. “Homey Don’t Play That.”
What do you think? Does Apple blacklist media outlets? Will this affect where you turn to for Apple news? Let us know in the comments below or on Google+, Facebook and Twitter.
feature image courtesy TEKDOGG
Last Updated on November 27, 2018.
