Six Moons charges for reviews?

Viridian and Nonoise,
Good posts and perspectives.

Any professional (including reviewer) gets or at least asks for certain dough for what they do. Why it's so shockin' after all and why 6 Moons NOT supposed to charge for reviews? If I'm a professional writer asked to write a story or an article for specific journal, magazine or newspaper, should I do that for FREE? It's only in audio-dealer's stories and fairy tales reviewers writing from listening experience. In reality, they less-likely even touch or see that equipment. All you need to have is proper audiophile vocabulary to write these articles and you don't need to be EE or designer.
Figure out. Math is simpler then science and there's no science without math.

It's not as if they are the only ones that are asking for such a tit for tat. There have often, maybe more often than not, been certain, ahem, arrangements made with manufacturers like forever when a magazine decides to do a review. You know, such as how much a reviewer would pay if he decides he would like to own the thing under review. 6 Moons is being up front about it, that's all.

I think Srajan has a valid point that advertising needs to support the cost of the editorial. Magazines and newspapers have used this model for generations. Websites are using this model as well. The way in which he is executing the plan will be seen by some as compromising his editorial.

Traditionally, the advertising side and the editorial side of a publication are separated like church and state. One does not interfere with the other in order to maintain integrity of the content. Journalism 101.

Some publications pretend there a separation between the ads and the editorial. Readers see that the ads match the publications reviews and credibility of the reviews diminishes.

The approach of requiring a company place an ad to get a review makes it easy to sell ads but hard to be objective. When a vendor pays for a review, it will be very difficult for a reviewer to say something negative about the product. It is a classic dilemma - particularly for publications that review equipment.

I appreciate the difficulty that Srajan discusses in generating advertising dollars. In my experience, selling ads requires a significant amount of energy and one or more dedicated salespeople. It is far more work to keep the advertising and editorial separate but that is the approach that other publications and websites have taken to maintain integrity in their reviews. Possibly Srajan is hoping to bypass the process of managing a sales effort by just requiring the companies reviewed to buy ads. I am not sure that will best serve the readers. Time will tell.

The bottom line, has there been any rave reviews by 6 Moons over terrible gear? If not, get over it. Business is business. Ultimately truth in reviews and integrity are what survive the test of time in this and other arenas. Read the reviews, then evaluate for yourself. Most of us have to pay bills. Trust your ears, pt