The L.A. Times story Eater LA's Must uproar puts blogger ethics in the spotlight takes a look at last week's controversy, also touching on the issue of comped meals and the Food Blog Ethics manifesto. Thanks to Elina for including EatingLA. Here's another opinion I gave her that didn't make it into the article: EatingLA doesn't recommend that any blog adhere to any specific code. I happen to think that comped meals and products should be disclosed, but it's not up to me to make rules for anyone else. I think readers are getting pretty good at distinguishing who they can trust and who's not worth the time.
I like this British take on the question from Timeout London: When are food bloggers just meal blaggers? Read it and find out why punters are good and blagging is bad.
3 comments:
Thanks for the link to the punters and blaggers! I love that they're going through the same thing over there, except they have different words for it.
I agree with you that transparency is the issue, not everyone signing on to some code. And it becomes pretty clear once you really read the blogs which ones are acting as ethical reporters and which ones aren't.
In general, it's a great thing to have so many voices.
Hi Pat,
Thanks for the link to the great article (and something you've been championing for as long as I've read your site :). It's indeed unfortunate to see the trend of gathering more and more bloggers together and comping meals in the hopes of getting more press (and usually favorable reviews) about certain places.
Keep up the great work! :)
Great article and one that directs me back to the original reason about why I decided to publish my own food web blog: the lack of trust in some food critics and some bloggers. Many years ago, I used to rely a lot on their scripts to chose restaurant only to face some hidden realities that ended annoying me and forced me into great caution: it started with couple of restaurants where I was not allowed to take photos whilst some food critics and food bloggers were allowed such priviledge. It was a 1st wake up call where I realized that some things were not ticking right under the hood: some were abviously allowed things that others would not. Then things got even easier: many did not even mind hiding their agendas with writings such as ''I walked in the restaurant and they recognized me"" or ''I told the wait staff that I was recommended by a friend who happen to bring them a lot of customers''. I mean, I had no other choice but to find out on my own. As I always remind to my readers: at least, what I'll get is exactly what you'll get! I remain anonymous all the way (not even showing up my face on the web so that restaurant staff do not recognize me), ensuring to enjoy an experience that anyone will get.
Post a Comment