Roger Ebert tells us all the rules...

Since ethics have been a Cartoon Geeks issue recently I think Roger Ebert's rules of conduct for movie journalists are pretty germane now.

Follow the link for the whole story but here is the list:
Advise the readers well.
Provide a sense of the experience.
Keep track of your praise.
Do the math.
Respect the reader's time.
Do not make challenges you are cannot to back up.
Respect the reader's money.
Beware of verbal parallelism.
Trailers. Have nothing to do with them.
A trailer is not a movie.
Be wary of freebies.
Accept no favors.
No commercial endorsements.
Be prudent with free DVDs.
No advertisements.
Be prepared to give a negative review.
Never review a film you have anything to do with.
No posing for photos!
No autographs!
Sit down, shut up, and pay attention.

We here at the Cartoon Geeks are not anywhere near the ethical paragons Ebert-sensei wants us to be...we are, after all, fanboys and fangirls. We like getting pix taken with stars, we like getting autographs and art from our favorites. Heck, that cuts both ways: we've never been asked to a junket, we only get freebie DVDs by dint of the fact two out of three of us are ASIFA members and vote in the Annies, and invitations to parties? WTF is that?

However: on the most important and crucial stuff I think we are pretty good. For instance, I once pissed a Famous Animator off because I mentioned my disappointment at Famous Animator's then most recent project. Oh well. I was honest. We're back on speaking terms now. Both Tom and Martin are similarly upstanding guys who have ruffled feathers on occasion. We don't get invited to parties or gladhanded by the studios. But we are honest, we call 'em like we see 'em, and we will say something is crap when something is crap. That's the promise we make to you, fellow Cartoon Geeks.