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HiFiInsider
21
Jun 30, 2016
Aside from lack of experience, many so called reviewers are in it for the free gear. Many companies especially smaller ones would offer anyone with an audience free stuff in exchange for coverage. Anyone can start a blog or website for only $9.99 a month and put up content. As the reader, you have to research the reviewer for his/her credentials. This applies to big media as well. For example, these two people have no business in reviewing the AKG N90 high-end headphones. Watch the video...
https://techcrunch.com/2015/07/23/fly-or-die-harman-kardon-akg-n90q/
A good indication that the reviewer is an amateur is writing mistakes. Professional reviewers have good copy editors to check the writing and that's costly. ~ Mike
SawatchFactory
300
Oct 27, 2016
HiFiInsiderMike -
Definitely feel you on the "put up content" side of things. One of our struggles is to remain objective in our reviews, even if the gear was sent to us. On the flip side, many of the larger gear review sites (not naming names) charge the gear company to get a review posted. Honestly, I think that's worse.
I spend a lot of time editing our content to make sure there aren't grammatical and syntax errors. Some of our writers make it more difficult for me than others. And, some of our writers are better at finding the good aspects of the products they review than the flaws. So, in that respect, you're correct - things should be read with a grain of salt and the reviewer scrutinized.
On the other hand, you may be surprised to know that smaller companies, especially cottage folks who make expensive product, are rightfully stingy with their demos. And, most companies only loan out bigger items. Tents, bikes, electric gizmos - they generally head back to the manufacturer and out to another reviewer when we're done with them.
I definitely try to be as open as possible about our process. Obviously, everything on the site is just an opinion and what we think is a killer piece may have a fatal flaw to someone else. We do keep trying to be the best gear reviewers we can be and we're always open to suggestions on how to get better.
One thing we've taken to heart after some rather biting comments (not from anyone here) is to make sure we're not just regurgitating copy from the manufacturer's website. That doesn't help anyone - not the reader, not the manufacturer, and not us. So, we're happy to be called on our shenanigans!
Seems you may be interested in different gear than we are, but your thoughts resonate across all different industries. I appreciate your point of view.
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