Greenpeace vs Vista, media vs the PR machine

(Originally published as a column piece on Feb. 8, 2007)

I DIDN’T go to the Vista consumer launch over the weekend, partly because I had other things to do with my family, partly because all the hoopla that Microsoft is trying to whip up over Vista is starting to smack of desperation.If Microsoft is really convinced that consumers have very good reasons to upgrade to Vista, then why waste all this money and try to ram it down our throats (and get us to buy more RAM, heh) that Vista is something we should love. Now, I’m not going to say that Vista sucks until I try it out — read the articles of our reporters Erwin Oliva and Alex Villafania for their coverage of the Vista consumer launch — but I really doubt that I’ll upgrade to Vista.

Why? Because even now I hate the bloatware that Microsoft saddles us with, which is why I use the open source app Firefox instead of that ton of bricks masquerading as a web browser Internet Explorer 7, and rely on Gmail instead of Outlook or, good lord, Hotmail.

This doesn’t mean I’m a Microsoft hater. I’m technology-agnostic, and if the technology works for me and I like the solution, I don’t care which company provides it. But somehow, the only products from Microsoft I love are the original Xbox (and even that’s with some reservations, heh) and the Xbox 360, which is why I bought them. I’m on Windows XP mainly because I’m a PC user (nope, I’m not part of the Cult of Mac) and I’m a gamer, so until Linux becomes a true gaming platform, that won’t be my OS, even though I’m a fan of open source as the most sensible alternative to piracy in a developing country like the Philippines.

Give me lightweight apps and widgets that get the job done and let me mash different services together, instead of trying to do everything with an OS that gets bloated and bloated with every new version. Time to stop milking that cow, Bill, it’s already blood that’s coming out whenever you squeeze.

Greenpeace also has an interesting statement on Microsoft’s attempt to get everyone to upgrade to Vista. The statement came out online in INQUIRER.net’s Infotech section, and I also got a copy via e-mail from Greenpeace Southeast Asia media campaigner Lea Guerrero.

Here’s an excerpt from the statement of Greenpeace Southeast Asia toxics campaigner Beau Baconguis:

“With Vista, Microsoft could effectively hasten the obsolescence of half the world’s PCs, especially in the absence of fully-functioning global take back systems for PCs…

“We maintain that the useful lives of existing electronic and computer equipment should be prolonged as much as possible. In the end, this is about social responsibility. The idea that software innovation would result in more mountains of computer scrap ending up in the dumps of Asia and Africa, contaminating the environment, and affecting the health of communities, is both offensive and intolerable.”

This is another dimension that we should certainly consider. In the first place, many Filipinos don’t even have access to a basic PC, let alone one powerful enough to run Windows Vista. And to me, what’s worse is that this “forced upgrade” that could have a negative impact on the environment is not even the result of software innovation. We can already do many of the things Vista is touted to do with Windows XP and the service packs and patches that are already taking up a lot of space on my PC. I don’t think that our problem with bloatware can be solved by upgrading to new bloatware.

Many of us have dutifully upgraded with every new OS, even when we had doubts that it was worth the hassle. Isn’t it about time we learned to say no?

* * *

Let me begin this the way I ended my most recent CNET Asia blog post, “We want the news, not the PR spin,” where I said that I would elaborate on the point in this column piece:

“I really don’t get why society needs a stupid press release. Oh, OK, I guess we need to pre-write stories for bloggers and journalists since they can’t write their own opinions or reports down, right? Sigh.”

That’s an excerpt from a blog post by arguably the world’s best-known blogger, Robert Scoble, formerly of Microsoft and now VP for Media Development of podcasting startup PodTech.net. I don’t always agree with what Scoble says, but here he nailed it.

I don’t know if this is a fair statement, but just the other day I was telling INQUIRER.net executive editor and Infotech editor Leo Magno how I feel that IT press conferences nowadays seem to be becoming more and more stage-managed. I quipped that we belong to the “bad boys era” of tech journalism, and maybe it’s time to shake things up again.

I’m not generalizing against PR firms, but now more than ever I see the need for media to assert itself and break down the PR machinery. How many of us have our time wasted by going to press conferences where, really, the speakers have nothing new to say, or where they don’t want to answer questions which are not part of the press release? Not that this stops us who are covering for INQUIRER.net, and in fact, I’d rather go straight to the executives and interview them, rather than attending press conferences where the PR people try their best to keep things non-controversial and deflect any flak.

I think the problem is that some PR firms have perfected the art of wining and dining, and think that this is what PR is all about — never mind actually bothering to learn the product and service of your clients, or making sure that your clients can competently answer the questions of tech journalists.

At the same time, we as tech journalists (sorry, I can’t speak for the other “beats,” though I’m sure the same principles of journalism should apply) should also ask ourselves hard questions. Are you just going to a press conference because you want to win in the raffle? Are you just content rewriting press releases and then slapping your byline on it (heck, I remember a case years back when a journalist actually took a press release verbatim and had it come out with her byline)? Do you just view foreign trips as junkets and a reward for you faithfully covering that company’s events?

I’m not being holier-than-thou. Who doesn’t enjoy occasional perks like having the opportunity to travel abroad when you cover international events, or winning raffle prizes? But the point is that this isn’t the be-all and end-all, and they certainly shouldn’t be your main motivation as a journalist. If you win in a raffle, fine, but if you lose, that should also be OK. We became journalists because we want to share news with our readers and bring them the truth, not because we feel entitled to rewards.

Just recently, I told the organizer of a certain international event to go take a hike, after this person asked me to do something for their major sponsor, as this company would be the one sending me abroad and would not feel too happy if I didn’t grant their request. Well, the world is full of unhappy people. I’ve done my best all these years to stick to my principles, which is why it pisses me off when some people assume that every journalist can be bought, or that it’s a padrino system of favors.

To be fair, from what I’ve heard of other beats, tech journalists (well, the real ones) are relatively clean, so let’s keep it that way. Yet let’s also be aware of the other ways vendors and PR firms try to manipulate us, such as those who use foreign trips as some sort of carrot for tech journalists, or who fluff up half-assed press conferences and news announcements by relying on bread and circuses.

In fact, as Leo told me when I was still starting out as a tech reporter in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and as we now tell our reporters, don’t go to a press conference without a clear story in mind. As much as possible, don’t even read the press release.

In fact, in my opinion, if a PR has constantly been guilty of being unprofessional, holding half-assed press conferences, or treating media people as if we’re for sale, then we should stop going to their press events. The point is that the PR is not and should not be the source of news — we can go directly to the company and get the story by interviewing them on our own.

At the end of the day, the readers care about the quality of our stories and the truth, not the massaged message that some PRs try to pass of as the news. We may have friends who work for vendors and PR firms — heck, some of them are former journalists — but what I’m saying is that when it comes to news, there should be no friends.

After all, part of the job of vendors and PR firms is to make sure no bad news comes out about their company, while our job as journalists is to bring the news to our readers, to give them the truth, and let the chips fall where they may.

No matter who might get hurt along the way.

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