Fake blogs—a form of viral marketing in which PR or advertising agencies attempt to generate interest in their client's product by creating a fictional character on the internet—are drawing criticism from real bloggers. The Cohn & Wolfe PR firm had to apologize recently after "using a fictional character to leave a series of thinly veiled advertisements on blogs and other websites. A number of websites were hit last week with messages from Barry Scott," a fictional spokesman for a British household cleaning product. British blogger Tom Coates was especially outraged and called it "a new low for marketers" after he wrote an emotional account of his relationship with his father, and then received comment spam from "Barry Scott" disguised as condolences. Coates replied: "My view was that any right-thinking person would view trying to market your product on such a post as revolting, corrupt, cynical, disgusting, sick and dishonourable." According to some PR people, however, fake blogging is a good idea.

"It is no longer possible to ignore the strangeness of our public discourse," former U.S. Vice President Al Gore told the We Media Conference in New York. "Something has gone basically and badly wrong in the way America's fabled 'marketplace of ideas' now functions." Gore cited the dominance and poor quality of television as a main cause: "Clearly, the purpose of television news is no longer to inform the American people or serve the public interest. It is to 'glue eyeballs to the screen' in order to build ratings and sell advertising. ... Just look at what's on: The Robert Blake trial. The Laci Peterson tragedy. The Michael Jackson trial. The Runaway Bride. The search in Aruba. The latest twist in various celebrity couplings. ... More importantly, notice what is not on: the global climate crisis, the nation's fiscal catastrophe, the hollowing out of America's industrial base, and a long list of other serious public questions that need to be addressed by the American people." Gore, whose new business venture, Current TV, airs "viewer-created content," also blasted television for lacking "true interactivity."

For the first time in his presidency, George W. Bush has an approval rating below 40 percent, according to a new CBS News opinion poll. Also, "Sixty-nine percent of Americans say things in the United States are pretty seriously off on the wrong track—the highest number since CBS News started asking the question in 1983. ... And for the first time in this poll, fewer than half the public approves of the way he is handling the campaign against terrorism."