Corrections
My previous post – Bloggers vs Journalists: Why bloggers are second class citizens – seems to have stirred up quite a debate.
There are a few things that have been brought to my attention since that I thought I should add. First of all (and somewhat going against my argument), it seems as though the budget Dubai article that raised my ire was commissioned. Well, accepted for publication at least.
The article in question has now been taken down by the Amateur Traveler site – possibly because so many people poured scorn on it. As Robert Cole points out – the piece in question can (temporarily) still be seen in the Bing cache.
InterContinental Hotels
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Secondly, I said the article was clearly the result of a junket hosted by InterContinental Hotels. A bit of further investigation (and a hat tip goes out to Shaney Hudson here), shows that the only traces of the author’s previously published work are to be found on the InterContinental Hotels Priority Club site. There, the author is described as: “a dedicated Platinum Ambassador member & The Community Ombudsman who travels worldwide & is an IHG brand expert.”
Conflict of interests
I can’t say for sure that she got her hotels for free in Dubai, but there is a clear, undisclosed conflict of interests here. It’s fine to put a little factbox at the bottom of a piece suggesting Hotel X or Hotel Y as a place to stay when you’ve stayed there. It’s another thing entirely to present the hotels of a group you’ve got a clear relationship with as the only budget options within a destination and refer to them continually throughout what is supposed to be a well-researched destination guide.
Poor editing
This was a case of desperately poor writing. But more importantly – and again this goes against my argument somewhat – it was a case of desperately poor editing. Chris Christensen of Amateur Traveler decided to put the article up, probably knowing how bad it was. It’s also difficult to understand why the obvious conflict of interests wasn’t highlighted.
Independent publishing on the web
Now here’s why I think my point is still valid. Chris of Amateur Traveler freely admits that the site is something he does in his spare time. He has set the site up as an independent publisher – but an independent publisher with none of the traditional high ‘old media’ publishing costs. Anyone can set up a site similar to Amateur Traveler.
He doesn’t make enough from the site to quit his full time job, and is clearly reliant on people submitting guest posts for free. Chris hasn’t been selected and paid to run the site because he’s the best qualified person to do so. There was no competition for the role – he has done it himself as a hobby, because he can.
Checks and balances
Again, this comes down to checks and balances. There are more in ‘old media’ journalism, and excreta such as the Budget Dubai post are less likely to slip through the net. Such pieces are less likely to be commissioned in the first place, and they’re more likely to be ‘spiked’ (ie. Not run at all). Chris should have been brave enough to respond to the author and say: “Thanks for your contribution, but I’m not running it – it’s awful.”
Lower standards?
When the writers aren’t paid, the editors aren’t paid and the publishers can set up what they like at minimal cost, running it as a hobby, then the average standard is likely to drop. I repeat what I said in the previous post – there is some brilliant blogging out there, but it is largely drowned out by the tidal wave of detritus. There are too many people shouting, and very few have anything to say.
Rule of thumb for bloggers
So I’d like to propose something to my fellow bloggers (yes, I am one, as uncomfortable as I may be with the title at times). Before you publish something, ask yourself this: “Am I adding anything new or useful here? Or am I merely contributing to the wash of pointless noise?”
A crude analogy
Anyone can whop their genitals out onto the coffin at grandma’s funeral – it doesn’t mean that they should. And doing so doesn’t make them a Chippendale.
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And it was all going so well, until the end…
That’s quite an image you’ve left me with..
I think I should have been an investigative journalist rather than a travel writer. The plot thickens: the article used as an example
can also be found at http://www.thebrooklynnomad.com/can-you-do-dubai-on-a-budget/. Blondie gets around the net.
On this site, the following details are listed:
“X currently serves as the Priority Club Connect Community Ombudsman for IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) where she writes a blog, engages 20,000+ online community members, and shares expert knowledge of the brand”
Does that mean she’s on the payroll for IHG?
Do they pay her to write this dribble? if so, it’s kind of embarrassing for the Hotel group….
Thoughts people?
Word. I particularly appreciate the conflict of interests bit. Question, following up on Shaney’s research: Is this an attempt by IHG to gain some traction in the social media world/blogosphere? If yes, I can think of a dozen far less clumsy ways they could have approached this goal.
I have to second what Matthew said…
I’m astounded to hear about the InterContinental Dubai conflict of interest.
Firstly because, while I’m not a fan of the Holiday Inn properties, the InterCont at Dubai Festival City is gorgeous, staff are brilliant, and it boasts a couple of the city’s best restaurants and bars. It gets great praise from good writers who stay there so not sure why this piece ever had to be written and put out there.
Secondly, because the IHG in Dubai actually do a great job at social media – they have someone on Twitter who is well regarded here, they have hosted some tweet-ups for Dubai tweeps, and they are a vital part of the local community. It seems so odd that this sort of piece would be part of their ‘strategy’. I’m doing some investigating myself, and will get back to you.
To be clear, it was accepted for publication not commissioned. I had sat on the article for a while before I had a chance to read it which I am sure affected my decision to publish the article. I agree that I should not have since I was not that fond of it.
Amanda was labeled in her bio “Amanda is a guest writer from Priority Club”
Don’t “real” journalists check their sources any more? Wouldn’t an email to Amateur Traveler been in order before a hachet blog post was published or don’t they do things that way where you come from?
I have to say, professional journalists, salaried or commissioned, can also shill for companies without disclosure. (unlike US bloggers who are required to disclose now.)
I have recently moved to a market with a historical daily newspaper. This paper is currently being sued for scraping articles from other papers without attribution (after they laid off most of their local reporting staff) and for firing a reporter for investigating allegations against a major advertiser. Press releases or “articles” written by PR reps have shown up as stories. If you want a great restaurant review, just advertise and a Mexican restaurant where fish tacos consist of a fish stick with tartar (!) sauce on a flour tortilla is voted the “best” in the area.
Ah, but the professional journalists and editors get better pay than bloggers and sometimes health insurance.
The debate shouldn’t be about journalists vs. bloggers, but more on developing critical consumers. If it smells like, looks like, and sounds like…it probably is. You can find bias in stories from blogs to the NYTs.
The post under scrutiny is much worse than biased.
It is irredeemably vile. Bugger all the debate about conflict of interest.
What kind of human could write the slab of text below?
‘Try to visit the poor areas of Dubai like the town of Deira to people watch and take photos. As any place, Dubai has non wealthy areas known as the slums. The indoor skiing area inside the Mall of Emirates is very cheap. Known as Ski Dubai, one can ski indoors for less than $50USD.’
“I have to say, professional journalists, salaried or commissioned, can also shill for companies without disclosure. (unlike US bloggers who are required to disclose now.)”
That’s not a question of what professional journalists may or may not do — all you’re attempting is the predictable attempt at “if we’re doing it, so what because other people are doing it too” line there. This is about one particular instance, that can get replicated in many other scenarios to a far greater degree online in the blogosphere. If print is folding and there are on the other hand statistics that 20,000 new blog sites appear every month (or maybe that was every week, but never mind), then you tell me where the far greater likelihood of shilling by people with no background either academic or profesional and who clearly don’t care is likely to take place?
In regards to your comments to my Dubai blog post:
1. I’m not an employee of IHG. I help run an online community called Priority Club Connect.
2. I never gave permission to Chris from AmateurTravel to post it.
3. Unfortunately, it was syndicated to his site without my knowledge.
4. Yes, all hotels listed in my Dubai post were paid by me.
5. My articles are geared to the 20,000+ online community members who are loyalty card holders in IHG’s program.
6. If you need verification, or disclosure regarding my “Ombudsman” position, please visit, http://community.priorityclub.com/docs/DOC-1101
Respectfully,
Amanda