CNET accuses Apple of over-hyping product launch

CNET has accused Apple of over hyping their recent product launch.

CNET is right to be upset, but the culprit is not apple. Apple has a legal obligation to make money, and part of that involves advertising and promotional work. The fact that CNET uncritically swallowed the press releases and media bulletins whole and unchallenged is surely CNETs fault and not Apples?

If we assume that the role of the news media is anything but to deliver eyeballs to their paid advertisers, then this reflects significantly worse on CNET than it does on Apple. I suspect that one of the reasons that peer-driven news sites such as slashdot and digg are so popular in the tech community is that they don't carry this same kind of bias to the same extent. Of course, if the stories they digest carry a prevalent bias it's very hard to make the case that they're completely unbiased, but they certainly have a different balance.