TL;DR:
Proton allegedly ghosted The Hated One (THO), after he declined a sponsorship from them, when they were in talks to do an interview.
DETAILS:
- THO who is notoriously known for not doing sponsorships was approached by Proton for a sponsorship which he felt conflicted about.
- During negotiations, THO asked if he could interview Andy Yen, Proton’s CEO, or some other higher up in the company.
- Proton said they were definitely open to it.
- Proton guaranteed that THO’s answer to their sponsorship proposal would not influence the likelihood of an interview.
- Ultimately, THO declined the sponsorship offer, but when he reached back to Proton to schedule the interview, they ghosted him.
IT’S DEFINITELY SUSPICIOUS
It’s certainly fishy that THO hasn’t heard back from Proton. Especially when Proton knows that THO is hard to reach. I am inclined to believe his account of the situation, and find Proton’s behavior disappointing.
THO IS RIGHT: SPONSORSHIPS ARE A CONFLICT OF INTEREST
I agree with THO that sponsorships are a conflict of interests because they incentivize positive coverage. That doesn’t necessarily mean that taking sponsorships is bad, but it’s still a conflict of interest, especially when your channel covers topics related to the sponsor’s services. I understand why companies like Mullvad refuse to do it.
NO SPONSORS DOE NOT NECESSARILY MEAN YOU’RE UNBIASED
Cleo Abrams
In his video, THO shows Cleo Abram’s channel for a brief moment. CleO Abrams is an independent tech journalist with almost 7 million YouTube subscribers. Like Johnny Harris (7M+ subs), she used to work at Vox, the sister company of The Verge. That’s how I personally discovered both of them.
I don’t know what THO’s issue is with Abrams, but I remember being extremely disappointed by Abram’s interview of Mark Zuckerberg last year. As far as I can remember, she doesn’t take any sponsorships from Meta, and yet, she did not ask Mark any hard questions when his company was/is drowning in controversies. It was a complete softball interview.
Marques Brownlee
Similarly, Marques Brownlee (20M+ subs), who is technically not a journalist I guess, did the exact same thing when he interviewed both Tim Cook and Mark Zuckerberg. Marques interviewed Zuckerberg in 2020, when he was summoned to testify to the Senate. And yet, Marques didn’t ask Mark about any of Meta’s controversies. He also didn’t challenge Apple’s executives (Tim Cook & John Ternnus) on Apple’s anti-consumer practices. Louis Rossmann called him out on it, partly because Brownlee had interviewed Louis about right to repair, years prior.
This is the problem with access journalism
Even if news outlets and influencers don’t take sponsorship from a privacy company, they can still be incentivized to cover them positively if they have regular access to its leaders for interviews. Right now, I wouldn’t say such a dynamic exists with Proton and some of the outlets their employees appear on. But they are getting bigger, so the risk will always exist, and likely increase.
I don’t think the outlets I follow are covering Proton poorly. IMO, they’re doing a great job. But I am not entirely confident that those outlets will always be bold enough to ask Proton uncomfortable hard questions, and if they are, that they would challenge Proton’s answers when they are not satisfying.
EVERYBODY IS BIASED:
We all have biases, for the simple reason that we all have a unique experience of the world that color our perspectives. But it’s important to acknowledge them, especially when you have an audience. It’s also important to recognize conflicts of interests and not let companies launder their reputation through your platform. Although they are far from perfect, and I have not followed their work in years I subscribe to The Intercept’s idea of adversarial journalism, that is rigorous and in the public interest.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE AN INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST / INFLUENCER / MEDIA OUTLET?
Not accepting sponsors shows a level of integrity few have
I admire THO for declining Proton’s offer. He did so when his channel is struggling to earn him a living income, which makes his decision that more commendable. I know that Louis Rossmann holds the same principle about sponsors but he doesn’t live off YouTube, which is a deliberate strategic decision on his part.
I follow a lot of “independent” journalists and media outlets.
Some of them brag about having zero sponsors, and only receiving money from their audience. I have tremendous admiration for that.
Others outlets have sponsors. Sometimes their sponsors have nothing to do with the type of content they produce (eg: coffee brand on tech channel), but often it is related.
Can those who fall into this category call themselves truly independent?
I have mixed feelings about it, but I’m leaning towards no. There are independent online news companies with sponsors that criticize billion-dollar corporate media (CNN, MSNBC, Fox, etc.) for being dependent and influenced by their advertisers. The way I see it, they are on the exact same boat, but just on a much smaller scale.
Not everyone can afford to forego sponsors
I recognize that it can be extremely hard to earn a decent living without sponsors. That’s why I have so much admiration for those who forego or slow down their upward mobility to honor their values.
I can also sympathize to some degree with journalists who are struggling financially and leap at the opportunity to work for big corporations like CNN if it provides them job security. But there is no doubt that that kind of decision will change you, as it only can, and always does. Your values will change whether you realize it or not.
FINAL WORDS:
I really hope Proton makes things right with THO and grant him that interview.
