CNet, Kawamoto in spotlight

The New York Times profiled technology industry news site CNet and its reporter Dawn Kawamoto, who was spied upon by computer company Hewlett-Packard after a story she wrote earlier this year.

Laurie Flynn wrote, “More recently, Ms. Kawamoto learned that private detectives hired by H.P. had been following her, even taking photos. When she took her young daughter on vacation to Disneyland, she discovered, they called her hotel to check on her whereabouts.

“‘I’m furious about all the stuff that’s gone on,’ Ms. Kawamoto said in an interview. ‘It’s like you have a locked file cabinet you thought was safe and then you find it isn’t.'”

Later, Flynn, wrote, “Aside from the almost two million or so regular visitors to a CNet site each day, millions more people read News.com’s stories from scores of other Web sites that link to them, including The New York Times, which has a business relationship with CNet. News.com is often first to publish major breaking technology stories, and many of its reporters, like Ms. Kawamoto, come from the competitive world of daily newspapers.

“Yet CNet’s news operation accounts for only a small part of its overall revenues. The company’s most popular feature is its technology product reviews, of everything from digital music players and HDTVs to accounting software and smart phones.”

Read more here.