‘Flunkster’ obsession gets an F

Just when we thought we had safely escaped the teapot tempest over sponsored blog posts, another irritating mini-controversy surfaces.

The latest high crime is a PR rep for the Golden State Warriors who posted a comment on a fan site without disclosing his day job.

Is this really what it's come down to? Reporters arguing whether someone who goes by "Flunkster Dude" was guilty of a major breach of ethical boundaries for defending his company's management in a blog comment without identifying himself? No wonder newspapers are going out of business.

Granted, Mr. Dude's actions were ill-advised to say the least, given his position as a public face of an NBA franchise. (His true identity is Raymond Ridder, executive director of public relations for the Warriors.) But does this deserve so much attention, to the point where it's been elevated to "Flunkster Gate" suffix status in some circles?

One reason that this incident has become such a lightning rod for reporters is simple: It combines two things at once feared and hated among the pulp press--blogs and PR. They blame the first for having the temerity to challenge Official Journalism, and they despise the second because, well, they despise PR.

There may be some Warrior-bashers and dateless fanatics who take this kind of thing seriously, but I'm guessing that the vast majority of fans out there would rather read about the team's rebuilding failures, Nellie's contract, or, you know, other basketball stuff.

For the record, our official guidelines for posting comments are as follows:

• Say who you really are.
• Write something thoughtful.
• Move on.

As for those in the Ivory Tower, the best commentary I've seen comes from this "Riddergate Counterpoint" posted on the very site where F.D. made his fateful entry:

"The holy hell that the writers then spew on this guy and the franchise and everyone in it made me want to throw up. One would think these bozos are paragons of truth, purveyors on nothing but facts and real information and actually know more than the avid fans. Far from it. Fact is they type with one hand while looking at themselves in the mirror on their desk."

He shoots, he scores.