I'm not much of a talk radio person, but The Mr. and my dad are. And one of the main reasons I know about this guy is because of The Mr. and my dad.

There's a radio talk show host in St. Louis with the pseudonym Frank O. Pinion. At some point in his career he stopped earning a salary from the radio station from which he broadcasts. His earnings come completely from endorsements/advertisements that he reads on his show.

So my blunt question to you is this: Does this make him any less of a radio show host? Is Frank's credibility as a talk show host diminished in any way?

When Brooke Shields lends herself to products like Colgate and Latisse, is she any less of an actress or any less credible in her role as an actress? When Cindy Crawford did the Pepsi commercials did you think any less of her? (OK there are some exceptions: Montel Williams doing pay day loans. Alex Trebec peddling life insurance. Pretty much anything Maury Povich does. Yeah, sell outs, but for a different reason.)

I ask this in light of what's happening in the blogging community regarding product endorsements. Do you think it's right or ethical to be paid to discuss a product?

Now, let me clarify. I do *not* think it's right for a blogger to be compensated to say only good things about a product. Nor do I think it's OK for a blogger to be compensated to say good things about a product and *not* disclose their relationship with the company to readers.

But if I were sent a product to review honestly and told that I could keep the product, or if a company paid me to review research about its product and write about it in any way that I see fit I really don't have a problem with that. 

I will say that when I'm listening to the radio and I hear the host begin a commercial it can be a little annoying. However, I'm much less likely to change the channel than if I hear a generic announcer doing a commercial. But that's just me.

So I may have opened a Pandora's Box here and I know how a lot of bloggers in the diabetes community feel about product reviews, but I seriously want your opinions as readers and users of products -- diabetic and non-diabetic products.

So, if you could get an honest review of a product -- good or bad -- or if you could read information about a product or company or research sponsored by a company would you? As long as the relationship between the writer and the company were disclosed?