"Blogola"

The Wall Street Journal had a fascinating story (sub. req.) last week about the publicists for the show "The New Adventures of Old Christine" ignoring mainstream TV critics and wooing bloggers to create buzz around the show.

The term "blogola" plays off the term "payola," which was the word used when record company executives paid DJs to play certain songs on the radio. It was a huge scandal in the 1950s.

In this case, the so-called "mommy bloggers" were from a group of 12 blogs about motherhood. The star-struck bloggers got backstage access to the show and lots of freebies, and predictably, wrote glowing pieces about the show on their blogs. (The story didn't, however, say whether the 'glow' translated into increased viewership of the show).

On the other hand, the publicist for the show was quoted by the Journal saying of mainstream TV critics that they "weren't worth my time."

I would chalk that comment up to PR spin. In all likelihood, these PR pros (rightly) concluded that the amateur bloggers would be more generous with their praise than would a seasoned TV critic, so they simply avoided the critics.