As if there’s much integrity left to go around in the day and age of pageview journalism, last week brought much a kerfuffle in the technobabble-sphere when CBS apparently forced CNET staff to exclude Dish’s Hopper DVR from its best-of-show awards at the Consumer Electronics Show. Of course, tech blogs chomped at the bit to tear down a major media outlet (and direct competitor) with scathing posts about the ‘scandal’ and even got some self-righteous grandstanding by way of one of CNET’s own writers quitting over the ordeal.

Just how dumb was it for CBS to interject in CNET’s supposed editorial independence? I don’t necessarily think it was at all. Sure, the blogerati are in full outcry mode, grabbing their pitchforks and launching into verbose ethical diatribes. But other than these select few folks (who frankly don’t trust reviews on any blogs regardless), who really gives a fuck?

Now don’t take that as if I’m actually supporting the obvious conflict of interest when corporations slant, edit or downright censor their subsidiary journalistic outfits. The question put forth here is whether or not this is inherently dumb for them to do so. My supposition is that it probably doesn’t matter much either way.

Winning CNET’s ‘Best of CES’ award wouldn’t have made a dent in the Hopper DVR’s sales, just as not featuring it in the awards wouldn’t have put the device out of business (as CBS would prefer). While inside our self-important bubble, these types of pieces may seem like the grand stage of swaying public opinion, but in reality – to a normal everyday consumer – it’s nothing but a blip if any factor at all. I’d surmise that the product signage itself at Best Buy is more influential (in the mass market) than any one single blog’s review scores.

We’re living in a time of information overload, folks. Don’t agree with a particular site’s review? Think it’s slanted or biased or decidedly “fanboy”? Well, there’s another one just underneath it a click away – and a hundred more past that. From posting honest commentary to explicit “payola”, no one voice stands to make that much of a difference in the success or failure of anything. There’s no longer any ultimate tastemakers. So go ahead. Let the line between corporate politics and journalism blur – or not. With information in aggregate, it doesn’t fucking matter.

The gall of the players involved with this journalistic ‘scandal’ to think one post matters at all, whether to specifically exclude it (as what CBS ordered) to screaming bloody murder over its exclusion (as what the tech press did) really is the most laughable part of this whole thing to me. Of course, the same could be said with any of my own posts.