This wasn’t an easy deci­sion but I fear it’s the only one I could have made. Seed Media Group’s deci­sion to sell space on this net­work for a Pepsi infomer­cial was a slap in the face to every­thing I had believed in and worked so hard to attain. I wanted to be here because there was no bet­ter place to com­mu­ni­cate sci­ence. The rep­u­ta­tion that ScienceBlogs had built meant that you could trust the verac­ity and the integrity of those who appeared on the net­work. It was this rep­u­ta­tion that Pepsi wanted to buy and which Seed was only too happy to sell them.

Eric Johnson explains his ratio­nale for leav­ing ScienceBlogs. After the blowup last week over the Pepsi Co. deal Seed Media made it is no sur­prise. This is what hap­pens when you attempt to use indi­vid­ual rep­u­ta­tions to legit­i­mate cor­po­rate pub­lic relations.