Transparency crosses into many careers, and one of them is blogging.
Dianne Jacob, an editor and journalist, spoke about the ethics behind blogging at the Food Bloggers of Canada conference in Vancouver in October.
Jacob said writers, especially bloggers, need to let readers know if they have been compensated in any way for posts about goods and services.
Jacob, who noted that groups like Canadian Lentils and Turkey Farmers of Canada sponsored the blogger conference, said these organizations want to increase awareness of their products through bloggers.
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She said writers need to understand what they want in return.
“It brings up questions for bloggers about what they should disclose to their readers with whatever arrangement they’ve made with these people,” she said.
“Are they expecting one sentence? Are they expecting a glowing review? Are they expecting a 2,000-word story with photographs?”
Jacobs said producers shouldn’t underestimate the power of food bloggers.
“They have an amazing reach.”
Duncan Clark, vice-president of Strategic Initiatives for Postmedia Network, agreed.
“What we’re starting to see is bloggers are finding a way into the media mix more and more. There is lots of room for people to find their niche and turn it into something valuable.”
Clark discussed how business strategies used by Gastropost with bloggers can have benefits.
Gastropost, a product of Postmedia Lab, is a 20,000-member group of mainly food bloggers from across Canada. Members receive weekly food missions and have the week to send in text and photos about subjects ranging from peppers to burgers. Selected entries are printed in the Postmedia outlets in the blogger’s region.
Clark said bloggers have to think about themselves as products and think about the specific value they can provide to their audience.
Page views become more powerful and valuable when “you know more about who your audience is and specific things your audience gets out of it.”
