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Sidebar
Occasionally a manufacturer goes beyond freebies and product loans to bond with a journalist. The case of Andy Pargh, who the Today show calls "our Gadget Guru," stands out. Pargh offers consumer advice and commentary (mostly of the look-what-we-have-for-you-now variety) on all kinds of products, including computers and consumer electronics, on Today's weekday and weekend shows. He also writes a syndicated column for 120 papers.
In addition, Pargh moonlights for Sony. In a September 23 internal memo obtained by cjr, one Sony executive explains to another, "Our basic agreement with Andy simply covers the development and production of four brochures for $80K -- targeted at simplifying complicated technology and products for consumers, but stopping short of endorsing Sony."
One such brochure, called "The Gadget Guru's Guide to DVD" and bearing Pargh's byline, features tips on choosing digital video disk players and questions and answers about the systems. On the back page, in the same typeface but on white background instead of dark, comes a pitch for Sony models 3000 and 7000. The brochure explains why Sony DVD players produce "Better Sound," "Better Special Effects," and "Better Connections." A reader would have no clear idea of where Pargh's explanations end and Sony's pitch begins.
In the September 23 internal memo, Cindy Pollard, director of corporate communications for Sony Electronics, explains to John Briesch, president, consumer products, Sony Electronics, why a reference to a Sony digital camera had been edited out of a Pargh story in USA Today that had appeared the previous day. She notes that "Andy's office" said that USA Today had made the edits for space, and "did not advise Andy of the change."
Pollard goes on to say that the company must be prepared for such disappointments because of "editorial decisions made by the publications" or because Pargh "zealously guards his 'journalistic integrity.' In fact, it is his perceived 'neutrality' that makes him valuable to us as a third-party endorser." She mentions that Sony is exploring the possibility of Pargh producing "closed-loop videos for in-store explanation of products."
The most revealing aspect of the memo, however, is that it opens a window on what the money relationship with Pargh means to Sony:
"We are hopeful that this business relationship . . . gives us a 'leg up' in getting him to cover our topics on the Today show, in USA Today and in other information channels. But the fact is, he's not our 'hired gun' -- and we will not always get exactly what we want. On the other hand, I believe we're much more likely to see fair and even-handed coverage from him than previously. I can assure you, though, that we're working as diligently as we can to influence him to position Sony and its products prominently, properly and pervasively."
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David McCormick, executive producer for broadcast standards at NBC News, says the network's policy is that employees and free-lancers "should not be maintaining outside business or financial interests that might interfere with their news judgments."
In an interview with cjr before the magazine learned of Sony's payments to him, Pargh volunteered, "We do not accept any monies. Our journalism is journalism. We have our opinions." When asked later if Sony had paid him $80,000, as the internal memo shows, he said, "No way. If they did, it's something I don't know about." Then he said his agent "put that together, not me. He did the deal. I just wrote copy. They came to me and said 'would you write about DVD, nonslanted?' And that's what I wrote. I didn't reference it [the Sony model] in the copy." He says he "wasn't thrilled" when he saw Sony's name on the brochure. "I do not write advertorials."
On November 29, on the Saturday Today show, Pargh reviewed DVD units. What did he recommend? He mentioned models by Pioneer and RCA, but "The one that I picked for the best of the year," he told Today co-host Jack Ford, "is from Sony. It's their model 7000. This thing is about $1,000, but has every bell and whistle that you'll need."
