She also said she didn’t feel the need to let her readers know that she was getting paid to do the write-ups and that she would not flag these posts as “advertorial”. She then talked about how she still had control over what she wanted to say but had to let “clients” vet through her post and amend words they were unhappy with before uploading.
Me and a couple of bloggers sitting in the audience were like ….. WTF!!!!
Where’s your honor & integrity!? What kind of credibility do you have if you do that!? What do you make other bloggers look like when you’re saying all this to a whole room packed full of communications consultants and media folks!?
I’m really wondering about NuffNang and what it’s all about as it tries to monetise blogging.
I really wish the more senior blogger who had a site of his own dedicated to automotive reviews would have spoken up on how he handled earning a living as a blogger.
Would you take money to write a product review?
Would you let friends who read your blog know you were paid to write a post?
hmmm …. noted … thanks for your frank feedback
hmmm … this line of reasoning is hard for me … i trust my frens in real life and what they tell me … how can i then doubt what they blog about?
we really only have our “word” to trade on right? is our word here any less than our word in the non-internet world?
in my perspective, editorial pitching can be leveraged if you buy ads in a magazine or a newspaper but because the sales teams and the editorial teams are separate, you can never be assured how positive or negative the story is. plus the editorial teams never send of an article to be approved by clients before it gets published. at some times …. editorial teams review a product … and the sales teams knowing there’s a review will contact the brand and ask if they want to place ads
also when the restaurants, hotels and luxury cruise ships invite reviewers on board … they are fully prepared for these reviewers to cover them negatively if their level of service or food is not up to scratch. that whole process is one where you take all the efforts to ensure a positive experience is had by any and every customer
reviewers are not bound to write a good review …. guess it comes with the territory and that’s why people wine and dine reviewers hoping that’ll make a difference.
for me …. the case here is really down to someone ….. say one of us ….. being paid to write a review on a product and not letting our friends know that a post was paid for … and process of getting that post up with communication with the people who paid for that post
I think we should always take everything we read with a *pinch of salt*.
Pictures can be D-I(ed),
Videos can be altered,
‘Honest’ articles can be written by paid writers,
Letters in the forum columns of newspapers can be written by PSC Overseas Scholars on Govt Grant with an ambitious agenda…
I can’t expect 100% authentic reporting or coverage by Citizen Journalists…
In the words of Sexy Duchovny …
TRUST NO ONE.
taking money is one thing and giving editorial oversight is another.
i can’t help noticing in quite well respected magazines not to mention in our local press and media that adverts for the same product or service will appear right next to the editorial review. so yes the review appeared and yes they took money from advertisers. but it is quite obvious. what is invisible is whether the advertisers could edit or amend anything the reviewer had to say or the reviewer may have practiced self censorship with the view to being attractive to the advertisers. most respectable mags would rather die than admit their editorial integrity was compromised. (notice i use the word ADMIT. we just have to take their word for it that it isn’t. and as long as the ads sit there you have to wonder.)
then again giving money outright is one thing but what about a free meal, movie or stay at a glamorous resort?
there are those who insist on anonymity and on paying their own way in restaurants while there are others who blatantly announce who they are and DEMAND the restaurant to pick up the tab OR ELSE. (yes, one popular, if not respected, website does this!)
i have not met a single (paid) movie reviewer in singapore who pays to watch the movies being reviewed.
and i don’t think there are many magazines with large enough budgets to pay for their reviewers to go on a luxury cruise or stay at a luxury resort in order to review them. again the more scrupulous will acknowledge that the trip was paid for by the host so readers can draw their own conclusions, but by no means is this a standard practice.
well, i’ll definitely let my readers know, though might not be in the same post, if i’m being paid to advertise something..
but in the first place, i might not even take up the role of an advertisor,
unless i have total freedom over how i’m going to write the review,
ie without the vetting & all, just pure me.