Some thoughts on the ethics of blogging...

There's been a lot of discussion in recent months amongst food bloggers and in the mainstream media about the ethics of bloggers accepting free meals from restaurants, the argument being that freebies make the recipient beholden to the host and less likely to be objective in their review. Commentators go on to state that regular reviewers (that is, those from the major newspapers) book and dine anonymously, paying for their own meals.

Well, yes, some do but a lot of the smaller (budget-restricted) publications including community newpapers and food magazines do accept hospitality from restaurants, cooking schools and the like.

Does accepting a free meal mean you have to give a positive review? I guess that depends on how you handle it. On the occasions in the past where, working for consumer food magazines, I've accepted something for nothing, I've always made it clear that any review or feature was at my discretion (or my editor's) and there were no guarantees of a positive write-up. If worst came to worst and we couldn't say anything nice at all then we wouldn't say anything at all.

I think for bloggers, like all journalists, the key lies in disclosure. If a restaurant hosts a blogger for a meal they shouldn't be afraid to say so - readers will draw their own conclusion, for good or for bad, but at least the blogger can feel confident that they're not deceiving anyone.

It would be naive to think that restaurants don't realise the potential of bloggers as a "marketing tool". At a food industry "tweet-up" last week at the MuMu Grill in Sydney chef Craig Macindoe, speaking about his online media and marketing strategy, revealed that hosting bloggers such as Not Quite Nigella has had a positive and measurable impact on his business.

From a blogger's perspective there are some invitations that are just too good to pass up, as became clear today when Melbourne blogger Tomatom tweeted about an invite he'd received to a bloggers' dinner at Tetsuya's. "Oooh, yes, please" was the general response in the twittersphere.

For the record I haven't been invited to the Tetsuya's dinner but you know what? I don't mind. I've been to Tetsuya's three times now and each time it has been for work. Tetsuya's is an amazing culinary experience but at four plus hours for the degustation menu it's what I call "endurance dining" - you really have to enjoy the company of the people you're there with. Next time I go to Tetsuya's, and I hope there is a next time if only for the sublime Ocean Trout Confit, I'd like to share the experience with the people I enjoy sharing much humbler meals with - my friends and family.