The blogging world has been deeply shaken this week. If you don't know the incident I am referring to, kindly check and read HERE to catch up on all the ongoing brouhaha.
This made me think about my blog. Which direction is my blog going into? Majority of my posts are really from personal dining experience although I do have entry where I was invited to sample a start-up restaurant's dishes. I'll be truthful that in that one event, I wasn't obliged to pay and wasn't paid anything in return. There were no freebies given to me, well, except for the free food.
I was honest enough to disclose the details so as not to mislead the readers plus I did my best to be honest and point out a few points of improvements, but after reading Marketman's post about Ethics in Journalism and Food Journalism, I had a lot of thoughts to keep me thinking throughout tonight.
1. When invited for a food event, should I pay for what I consume at all times? What do you readers think and feel when you read a post and find out that I didn't pay, do you simply have no care about it or think I am a just another "eat and run" blogger?
2. Should I or should I not accept freebies, when available? I have no experience regarding this yet, but freebies might be equivalent to "bribe" to some people out there, additional things that might help the blogger write more positively about the event.
3. How would you feel if I accept sponsored posts in the future? Again, I would always disclose it but do sponsored posts affect my blog's credibility? Would you think ill of me and just stereotype me as one of those bloggers who would write glowing reviews for the sake of money? At the moment I have some potential sponsored posts in the works and right now I'm not so sure anymore on what to do.
I started food blogging in the first place because I just simply wanted to share all my good and even the not so good food discoveries. Along the way I realized it would be nice to attend events and try to monetize my blog, but now I'm skeptic. In your own opinion, which version of my blog would you read more, the one where all posts are just from personal dining experience or the one where a few sponsored posts and restaurant food tasting events are thrown in?
I know there's nothing wrong with trying to earn a few bucks while doing what you love, in this case blogging, but where do I draw the line? Help me out please?
Your pig out buddy,
