Testing the Limits

Pogue enlisted the California firm DriveSavers to retrieve his data, mentioning to them that he would be working on a column about the process, and the company decided to waive $2,000 in fees as a "professional courtesy."

It wasn't quid pro quo, per se, and while Times policy has specific instructions for writers not to accept freebies of any kind or go on the PR-agency-run "press trips" frequented by many travel writers, he says the paper never said anything to him about receiving comped services.

"The Times has no policy on services, " Pogue said in a CNET podcast interview in which he tried to justify his actions. "I can send you copies of the ethical guidelines, and there's absolutely no reference to what to do about reviewing services. This has now been deemed an oversight."

Times spokesman Toby Usnik parsed the phrase a little differently.

"[Our] policy makes it clear that our journalists are not to accept gifts from news sources and they are at all times and in all circumstances to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest," said Usnik.

"In this particular case, we took action immediately after we learned of the matter, including making arrangements for The Times to pay for the services rendered. To eliminate any further possible misunderstanding, we are contemplating adding a single word, 'services,' to the written policy provision that 'equipment, programs or materials' may not be accepted without payment."

New York Magazine and Fairchild Publications sell items they receive and give the money to charity.

While the $2,000 price tag would probably make most journalists think twice, the dilemma facing Pogue was not unlike that which faces testing editors at various publications all the time. In the hopes of getting coverage, companies send all kinds of things to journalists, from mountain bikes and MP3 players, to make-up and haut couture; a spa owner might comp a free massage, while a tooth-whitening company might give a free treatment to a journalist. The ethical line on this issue is often very murky, and it is interpreted differently by different writers (and differently depending on the policy of the particular publication).

The Times' policy on freebies is likely the strictest; writers who have ever received and kept free items or gone on press trips are banned from writing for the paper. Official policy is that if items are tested, they must be returned.

Other publications like those belonging to Ziff Davis, which frequently tests computer equipment, will make sure that all hardware they test is returned but don't necessarily send back inexpensive software items (that are often more expensive to ship than they're worth). Michael Miller, who was the architect of Ziff Davis' conflict of interest policy noted that there is a "fairly extensive process for logging in, tracking, storing, and returning products."

New York magazine spokesperson Serena Torrey says that the company sends everything back that it can, because "not only is it the right thing to do, but we just don't have the space to keep things that manufacturers invite us to keep." She says, however, that in the case of cosmetics or other sorts of small unreturnable products, New York's HR department holds periodical "giveaways" for the entire company. Staffers pay $5 each, which goes to charities including New York Cares and Gildas Club, for access to a room from which they can take two small items (perhaps a lipstick and a bottle of shampoo).

Fairchild Publications, now part of Condé Nast, has held similar sales for the myriad products received by its fashion- and retail-oriented publications and also donates the proceeds. Yet, Condé Nast representatives refused to comment for this article or allow any employees to be interviewed. (Those contacted privately referred us back to their PR department.) The New York Post's PR department also refused to divulge the company's policy on test items, but, they may have been distracted by the looming ethical concerns over the recent Page Six payola flap.

The line can be a little harder to draw for freelancers who are testing items out of their homes, but Matt Schneiderman, who wrote "gadget" pieces at Stuff and at the newly-defunct Cargo, says that often tech manufacturers will loan their items out, and he would sign a loan agreement stating the terms.

Sometimes, though, it’s pretty clear that a company would not want its product back once tested. Editor Tracie Egan from Bust magazine, who tries out everything from fold-up bicycles to sewing machines to vibrators, notes that for reviews of dildos, vibrators, lube, and pornography, Bust does not return test items.

"Clearly, these companies do not want these items back after a test drive," she notes. "And we certainly don't want any prods back in the office once they've made the trip ‘downtown.’ "