Anyone who's been paying attention to the political blogosphere knows that the question of a blog's sources of funding comes up repeatedly, and in several places. Is a blogger taking money from a corporation to blog? Is a blogger being backed by a PAC or 527 or political party? On what terms is a blogger selling advertising?

With any of these questions comes the follow-up question: What strings are attached to that funding?

I am a big believer in The Cluetrain Manifesto and the democratizing (small "d") forces that the internet empowers. So far, blogs and websites have been primarily disruptive forces to the status quo of the mainstream media and political partisans.

But this is beginning to change. Anyone communicating in any medium will eventually run into questions about propriety, integrity and ethics. I have no problem with people being paid to blog, even to advance a given agenda ... as long as they disclose it so the reader knows.

Today the question of who's paying whom to say what has gotten a bit of attention in a thread on Booman Tribune. With political campaigns revving into action, I imagine that these kinds of questions will only heat up in the coming months. Rather than get into the particulars of other sites, of which I know little, I thought I'd address the questions regarding my own house here.

And so, in the interests of transparency, I offer now this disclosure:

• This site receives its funding primarily from my own pocket. I take time out of my working day to post here and read other sites. I am not paid by anybody to do this, let alone advance any political or commercial point or agenda.
• This site contains display advertising via Blogads. These ads are sold by Blogads on their network. While I reserve the right to reject any ads for content, to date I have not done so. Appearance of ads on this site should not be construed as endorsement on my part. I maintain a "Great Wall" between advertising and content.
• So far, the ads this year have yielded funds on the order of a few hundred dollars. That's nice to have, but it is not at all my primary means of support. Those funds go first and foremost into the hosting space and bandwidth of this site.
• Current advertising rates are public can always be found on the Blogads website. I am the one who sets the advertising rates.
• This site's Blogads are sold individually.
• Blogads on mediagirl.org are marketed on Blogads as part of the Liberal Advertising Network and the BlogSheroes Network. To date, there have been no "strings attached" to mediagirl.org's membership in these networks.
• I am an affiliate of Site5 web hosting. If someone clicks on a Site5 ad or link here and subsequently purchases web hosting from them, Site5 gives me a sales commission. Nevertheless, I host this website on Site5 because I love their services, and endorse their hosting services anyway based on personal experience.
• I write about what moves me. I am my own editor. Whether that's a good thing I leave to readers to determine.
• I write here, and in diaries and comments on other sites, using the anonymous handle "media girl", for personal reasons, and because I am a principal in a small business with a presence online. At this time, the business has no direct or indirect connection to political organizations or candidates, and I am not affiliated with any political party or organization, nor any advertiser on this site except as disclosed in this post. I post anonymously because I like my private life, and prefer to keep a distance between political speech and business. Some of you reading this know me and my business. I ask you to keep it to yourself and respect my privacy in this matter.
• All revenues and expenditures regarding this blog site are reported to the IRS and appropriate state agencies.

I will post any changes to this here in this post, which can be found in the "about" section of this site.

Thanks for reading. I welcome comments and questions. I may even answer some of them.

About author

media girl also blogs at other places.