Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Deaf Read, Commercial Sites, and Rachel's Unjustified Removal

I've just read Deaf Read's response to commerical sites, by Jared Evans.

To be honest, I'm still disappointed in their stance that they still have not reinstated the blog for even reading what Jared had to say, Rachel's blog still does not violate ANY of said 'guidelines'.

Jared pointed out these 3 guidelines...

1) Posts about non-profit organizations are entirely OK

2) Posts about for-profit organizations are OK as long as:
- the blogger is not in any way affiliated with said organization and/or
- not paid by the said organization in any form (currencies, freebies, reimbursements etc)

3) Advertisements outside of the posts are allowed


Rachel got kicked of Deaf Read for apparently violating Item 2.

That is -

'the blogger is not in anyway affiliated with said organisation

AND/OR

'not paid by said organisation in any form (currencies, freebies, reimbursements etc..)'


That is a huge step in differentiation from the rules of deaf read about commercial sites in the first place... Taken from their website..

6) Commerical Sites
We do not link to commerical sites for the purpose of generating profit, other than our own (we have expenses to cover!).


These 'guidelines' or 'rules' have just been made up by Deafread today, to justify their expulsion of Rachel's Blog.

Rachel, like myself, and others on Deafread, are VOLUNTEERS for a company. We don't PROFIT from it. We are not PAID by the company. I've already told you in a previous post we get travelling expenses paid for but hey - in our blogs we're not travelling, so we cannot get reimbursed for our blogs. In any case, the blog is entirely separate to our duties as a volunteer, it's a personal thing.

But - how come - Rachel is kicked off Deafread, and I'm not. I'm a volunteer, I'm affiliated with Cochlear because I volunteer for them. I don't get paid by them, but I do get any expenses reimbursed for travelling out of Auckland to give talks to community groups. They did replace my cochlear implant when it failed, so that could be classified as a freebie.

But it's all about raising awareness of deafess. Isn't that a good thing?

Lots of people volunteer for many organisations, and most volunteers will get paid for their expenses. Therefore, anyone who volunteers with any organisation, and is on Deafread, should be kicked off.

Doesn't make sense to me. It makes even less sense now than it did before.

I like how Deafread changed the rules to fit the situation. Where is the justice in that?

Rachel has never ever pushed for one brand over another, or been seen to try and market Cochlear Corp's Implants. She's spoken of her own personal experiences (and others) only. Just like we all do. Deaf, deaf, ASL, Cued, AVT's, implantees - we all blog about our lives and our experiences.

So - is Deafread going to kick me off? What about the other Volunteers for both Cochlear and AB??

Or is it ONLY RACHEL you have your knickers in a twist over?

If you don't kick others off, then you aren't being consistent, so there's no reason why Rachel shouldn't be reinstated.

Deafread - you need to rectify this one way or another.

Robyn

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

LMAO @ Jared.

Wow! I didn't see his posting until I checked your article.

"Intelligent DeafRead editor"

..

"Employed volunteer"

..



Really, why should anyone expect different from Jared/Tayler?

:o)

Paotie

Joseph Pietro Riolo said...

I agree with your observation.

I read the new guidelines (not once but several times) and I am thinking of this possible scenario: If I am a volunteer for a non-profit organization and it showers me with all the freebies and I write a post about the things that the organization does, I am okay.

Contrast that with this other possible scenario: If I am a volunteer for a for-profit organization and it showers me with all the freebies and I write a post about the things that the organization does, it is not okay.

The only difference is between non-profit and for-profit. I fail to find a strong justification for the difference. Just because an organization is declared to be non-profit does not necessarily means that it is better than a for-profit organization. There are many reasons why some organizations choose not to be non-profit. One main reason is to free themselves from onerous regulations that the non-profit organizations must follow. AAA (an organization for American motorists and travelers) chooses not to be a non-profit organization because it wants to get involved in political activities that would not be allowed if it were a non-profit organization. Also, AAA claims to be a not-for-profit organization (different from non-profit), meaning that it seeks not to make profit even though it is not a legally defined non-profit organization. I think that Cochlear Awareness Network resembles AAA very much.

I think that it is pretty obvious that DeafRead was trying to rationalize its action against Cochlear Implant Online.

Joseph Pietro Riolo
josephpietrojeungriolo@gmail.com

Public domain notice: I put all of my expressions in this post in the public domain.

mervynjames224 said...

Good job we aint paranoid, or we might suspect the beleaguered 'Deaf Culture' is turning the screws to re-acquire their deaf 'space, which they seem to have lost. I noticed hearing aid blogs are coming in now, Taylor, what you sow you reap... You will be forced to declare YOUR interest.

Kim said...

"knickers in a twist over"? You had me laffing at that one. I just love idioms. You're SO right!!! I hope you don't leave. It's better to stay and continue to post you opinions.

Smiles. . .

Kim said...

Also-- if you get tons of snarky comments from "anonymous" individuals, I hope you post them all. I took my moderation off for that reason. The others need to see those remarks, so they will understand WHY we feel the way we do.

David said...

You make your points clear and to the point. Unlike other convoluted individuals who waver all over the map on these issues.
Thanks for this, and thanks for getting me motivated to run again. I will keep you posted on my plans and progress.
Thanks heeps Robyn

HENRY KISOR said...

Sounds to me as if the Deafread folks know they're wrong but haven't the cojones to admit it, therefore are indulging in a bit of heavy-duty hairsplitting.

Abbie said...

I have to agree with you too! I am waiting to be kicked off as well because I am a Bionic Ear Association volunteer for Advanced Bionics CI company. I don't get paid for the time that I put out to help people through the learning curve of adjusting to life with a CI.

*shrug*

Kind of strange...

Kind of stupid too... :)