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Topic: Is this ethical? Or is it even legal?
| Author | Message |
| Lola la la la Lola | Posted – 6/24/2008 5:09:12 PM | show profile The publisher of this website: www.lasplash.com doesn't really care about the content of his online magazine, just the fact that he gets alot of "FREE things" such as comped restaurants, upgrades to first class, free hotels, entrance into events in Hollywood, invites on many press trips and alot more. If you go to the site and click on eveyrthing you see it's because him or one of his writers got schwag out of it. What happened to writing because you actually enjoy doing it? Isn't it kind of pathetic when someone starts a website just simply to get free things? His site does come up in top google searches but I've heard that it's because of the programming not necessarily because of the readership. Furthermore, he doesn't pay the IRS any taxes for all the free stuff he gets...is that illegal? |
| JimmyG | Posted – 6/24/2008 5:35:24 PM | show profile Ethical? Not particularly, but if the site says up front what the score is it's up to the reader to decide if it's worthwhile. Hard to imagine many companies will comp this guy for long under the circumstances, but who's to say. Legal? Yes. If the IRS began taxing press freebies it would not only be an accounting nightmare for all concerned it would effectively slam the door on press coverage for a lot of companies. Few publications have the resources to buy books, CDs, movies and other products for review. Ditto with sending people on press trips or getting cars and electronics (that get returned after a week or so) in the hands of editors and writers. Would you rather read a review written by someone who's only read the press release or who's actually tried the product? |
| Lola la la la Lola | Posted – 6/24/2008 5:51:56 PM | show profile true...makes sense about the legality part however I think it's seriously disgusting how he does things not for the love of journalism but simply for the schwag.....and pr people keep hooking him up, I don't understand why or how. ...The really sick part is that this guy is a multi-millionaire he's just a cheapskate who doesn't like to pay for anything. The website by the way is www.lasplash.com |
| Skippy | Posted – 6/24/2008 7:16:24 PM | show profile | email poster I once worked for a mag, where the editor was selling the cover and stories. I had no idea when I was hired. But companies and individuals crave the legitimacy of media coverage, so they'll buy it any way they can. Personally, I consider pay-for-play nothing more than whoring your media outlet out for profit. |
| Mirage | Posted – 6/24/2008 7:33:17 PM | show profile Wow, someone has an axe to grind... |
| JeanMarie | Posted – 6/24/2008 7:38:10 PM | show profile How do you have time to worry about stuff like this? |
| Lola la la la Lola | Posted – 6/24/2008 8:02:13 PM | show profile wellll, yes maybe I do have an axe to grind. Let me tell you a story. He sent me on a press trip and called me while on this press trip screaming that I wasn't "thankful" enough. I had other journalists who were on this trip around me as he put me in this most uncomfortable position. Needless to say I have stepped down and quit writing for his publication. The more and more I got to know his ulterior motives for having this site and the more I spoke to other people who had either worked for him in the past or were currently working for him, the more I found that it was common for him to abuse people, not pay anything and then yell and scream at them for "not being thankful". It's so sad that he can take advantage of young writers who want to work in the industry by dangling his little "get free schwag" carrot on a stick. I've heard alot of PR people complaining about him because he'll do a restaurant review and then ask to get free meals at the same restaurant again and again! That's disgusting! I mean, you go to the restaurant to review it but that doesn't mean that you should get free food for the rest of your life. Or get upgraded to Business class again and again for one article!!! |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 6/24/2008 8:06:56 PM | show profile In terms of journalistic ethic lapses, I'd say what you described is pretty mild. |
| Lola la la la Lola | Posted – 6/24/2008 8:13:56 PM | show profile wow, mild? There are worse people out there then this guy who calls himself a "magazine publisher" of an online website? |
| weiss | Posted – 6/24/2008 8:49:30 PM | show profile | email poster I've worked with LASplash...Funny they don't actually write I've actually posted clients to LASplash! They do insist on a sample, but I don't find that too strange. I find it funny that they don't even write their own articles! I had to write the Mother's/Father's Day Gift Guide piece for each client myself! |
| sophiesMOM | Posted – 6/24/2008 11:02:48 PM | show profile i worked for the website of a major biz magazine and this was standard op for the people who wrote about travel, cars, etc. they never paid for anything...they were reviewing four and five-star hotels and resorts that were paying their freight and...guess what??...we never published a bad review. |
| Lola la la la Lola | Posted – 6/24/2008 11:41:35 PM | show profile Never publishing a bad review- So if I were to read a fluffy review of a 4 star hotel in Paris and it would be such a lovely review that I would book the hotel then I go to said Hotel and find that it's crap when I get there. It's just seems unfair to the readers to give amazing reviews just because the publication is getting hooked up. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 6/25/2008 3:02:41 AM | show profile No offense, but if this web site strikes you as that bad you're pretty naive about the publishing industry. There are many, many publications where people expect to get a good writeup or review for buying an ad. --wow, mild? There are worse people out there then this guy who calls himself a "magazine publisher" of an online website?-- |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 6/25/2008 3:50:35 AM | show profile There is a degree of personal responsibility here. If you're dumbed enough to go to a fluff site and believe every review you read, without doing any additional research, you're bound to get screwed a lot. --Never publishing a bad review- So if I were to read a fluffy review of a 4 star hotel in Paris and it would be such a lovely review that I would book the hotel then I go to said Hotel and find that it's crap when I get there. It's just seems unfair to the readers to give amazing reviews just because the publication is getting hooked up.-- |
| noname1234 | Posted – 6/25/2008 10:49:02 AM | show profile I took a look at this site, and honestly, it's pretty junky-looking -- it doesn't look like the kind of place I'd go for legit, objective reviews. Sites like this are a dime a dozen online (and frankly, there are a lot of print products like this too). If your beef is that this site is violating writers' contracts, that's one thing. But getting up in arms because the owner started this enterprise as a way to make profit (legally), not for the pure "love of journalism"? I don't know if I can join your outrage there -- that's life. |
| snappiness | Posted – 6/25/2008 12:40:16 PM | show profile those are crappy mags, then I have *never* worked for a mag that takes schwag in return for writing puff stuff on the company. The national mags (including business and consumer) that I write for are VERY strict about not accepting freebies. In fact, I just did a story about one of the top restaurants in the country and I was required to go and expense it, and not tell them I was a journalist. I can never let a source pay for even a cup of coffee, lest it look like a conflict of interest. If a magazine is accepting gifts or comps, then the writer's journalistic integrity is compromised. It's a sleazy way to make a living. The travel mags are the worst for this, I understand, but Conde Nast Traveler has a reputation for not accepting any junkets. |
| Lola la la la Lola | Posted – 6/25/2008 12:51:47 PM | show profile They don't give "good" reviews for paid adverts. He doesn't make a penny from adverts on the site because no one will buy any advertising on it....all the ads you see on the site are fake or google ads. He gives good reviews for free stuff...and if all the other magazines do that in exchange for paid adverts then good on them, but atleast they can try to offer a quality product. As the last poster said, Splash is definitely junky. Phew, Okay I'm done grinding my axe. Thank You. |
| Louisewasnothalfbad | Posted – 6/25/2008 1:24:03 PM | show profile I thought most people knew about LA Splash--it's a way to take a trip off your taxes, basically. If you can get on a junket, it's an outlet, albeit a lousy one. It's not worth the drama, IMHO. But this: "What happened to writing because you actually enjoy doing it?" is the observation of someone either very green, very naive or supported by Mom and Dad. I write because I like to eat. |
| Lola la la la Lola | Posted – 6/25/2008 1:42:14 PM | show profile Louise- Splash doesn't pay any of the writers so writing for Splash to put food on the table is not an option. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 6/25/2008 2:10:47 PM | show profile It's all cool, cool cats. I think you're just a little green. Basically, this is just a crappy site that someone started so they could get free stuff. That's the whole point of its existence. Whether that's pathetic or smart is in the eye of the beholder. Anyway, sorry the guy yelled at you. That's never called for. |
| Lola la la la Lola | Posted – 6/25/2008 2:20:40 PM | show profile Dribble, he did more than raise his voice at me -he was downright abusive. Weilding his power until I had enough ...for god's sake, this is not the kind of experience that i need to gain in order to get my foot in the door! He also hires people who live at his house in exchange for writing articles and helping him with the site and I have heard HORROR stories of how he abused them and other assistants who have come and gone. One guy he hired named Quang was an international student from Cambodia, a very shy reserved guy and Lawrence Davis would constantly yell at him calling him "DUMB F**K" and berate him. Thank God, Quang finally had enough and quit working for him. |
| northcoastlife | Posted – 6/25/2008 3:13:17 PM | show profile four cool, did you see this page link that's online for the party that this abusive editor threw at Tengu, Santa Monica for "appreciation" of his journalists and photographers?: http://www.sfsplash.com/publish/Entertainment/cat_index_la_events/Splash_Magazine_Party_Makes_Waves_at_Tengu_s_Newest_Restaurant_on_the_Ocean.php?date=2006-10-01 It just made me kind of smile at the usual m.o. of this kind of abusive publisher/editor trying to pass himself off like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth, yet his real side is known by someone on the ground like you. Note there's at least 4 photos of Lawrence and the article kind of morphs from a party description into a long description of how the restaurant came about. So the guy's too mean also to give them a separate article review for loaning him floor space to stage his party? What an operator... |
| Lola la la la Lola | Posted – 6/25/2008 3:35:06 PM | show profile CHEESY. reading that article just made me throw up in my mouth. |
| mossvivace | Posted – 7/6/2008 1:36:09 AM | show profile | email poster SPLASH i am so happy that i found this site and this subject! I was just about to be one of his "victims", had I not read this. I am self employed and was happily living in a family owned condo, but my brother is having his house repossessed and has moved into mine, and is quite abusive. I am desperate for a place to move ASAP and out of desperation answered his ad on Craiglist L.A. "Room $2. a month in exchange for 20 hrs of work." Sounded too good to be true. Altough it does say women, men, or children can apply....which seemed odd to me. He is renting out 3 seperate rooms for 2.00 a mo. to anyone who will work for him 20 hrs a wk. You can either write,edit, or cook for him and his girlfriend ( which would include being pesent not only for 3 meals, but 3 snacks a day)or take care of the dogs. I sell antiques and work on eBay for a living and when I spoke to him he said he would want me to work on Ebay- since he has so much swag to sell, his house is overflowing with it and he said I would be working more than 20 hrs- selling all of this stuff. I also had to submit a picture, and he called me about 2 min after I sent the email and picture. He told me to call at 10 am and come to meet him at 1100 am. I was very nervous about moving into someone's house and working for them there too, didnt sleep well, but got up in time to call at 10. My brother was using my phone, and as I mentioned, he is very abusive, and I was actually afraid to ask for the phone so thought I would take a quick shower first and hope he was off the phone. At 1010 am I called owner of Splash who's voice was ice cold and he said " I expected you to call at 10:00- what happened, no I don;t want to know, I think it would be better if we did not meet." I said to myself damn- why would I move from one abusive situation to another?? My second thought was, he must treat everyone like this and it would only escalate once you were under his power in his house. He then said "You can call me on Monday at a time of your choosing, and we will discuss if there is any reason to go further." Blank you, I thought, I'm not that desperate, I dont need to be treated like someone's bitch for a room , I have money, I just inadvertantly ended up in a bad situation because of my brother and wanted to get out ASAP. His coldness and what I consider abusiveness haunted me all July 4th, and I decided that if I call Monday, it will be to tell him off. I pity the other people who answer his ad, which is still running on Craigslist- go to $2. 0r $5. ( he has both) mo rent in LA under rentals and answer it yourself if you want to see what he is like. I guess no one has answered it recently because all rooms are still for rent, and he and his girlfriend must be going hungry and without their snacks. Hopefully i won't end up in the LA River over this post. |
