Travel trips for bloggers
January 18, 2006
Just to continue our travel PR conversation and the issue of free trips for bloggers.
Robert Scoble just revealed how many products have been passed his way for review, including the very covetable Nokia N90 and a slew of great tablet pcs.
Does getting free stuff change my opinions? Of course! For one, I now have real-world experiences with these products.
Am I less likely to say something bad about them? Probably. If I can’t say something nice I probably won’t say anything at all.
That is precisely the way most respected travel journalists approach press trips. Experience the destination first hand and we can draw our own conclusions. If it’s great I’ll say so; if it’s just ok well…
Have I failed to write about a hotel or restaurant or resort which failed to impress me? Certainly, on the basis that it would be unlikely to impress my readers.
But have I been out-right critical of it in print? Not always. As Robert suggests, you are less likely to say something bad about a product when a PR has taken the trouble to let you experience it.
Now here’s today’s question: does it get even harder to say bad things the higher the value of the product offered? Are you more likely to give great coverage if the freebie is seen as a serious treat?
I wonder because that’s the way it often happens in the travel writing world where it doesn’t seem to be hard to get journalists (or at least some) to gush about - and ignore any short-comings of - a seriously exensive upmarket resort when a glass of champagne is pressed into their hand on arrival and hot and cold running spa treatments are offered throughout their stay at the drop of a hat.
The interesting thing will be to see whether bloggers in a similar situation will have their heads turned just as easily or will they manage to remain as objective as if someone had just sent them a new mouse mat or free usb drive. I suspect I know the answer.
In the comments section of his blog I just asked Robert how he would feel if he was offered a family vacation/short break on the basis that he would link to the resort each day (but with no requirement to be nice).
I will be interested in his thoughts.
Because I suspect it’s only a matter of time.
Comments
6 Responses to “Travel trips for bloggers”
You’re so right. As a wine reviewer for a local paper and technology journalist I get all kinds of things to review. What I write about are the good things, and I blog about them too.
When a situation arises that needs attention the blog seems to get people to react, and quickly. Still a good product will get a good review. A bad product will not get any. I tell readers of my wine column that you can trust the reviewed wines to be good, but you don’t know what I didn’t like. That should help make a decision. The same applies to tech and travel.
You’re so right. As a wine reviewer for a local paper and technology journalist I get all kinds of things to review. What I write about are the good things, and I blog about them too.
When a situation arises that needs attention the blog seems to get people to react, and quickly. Still a good product will get a good review. A bad product will not get any. I tell readers of my wine column that you can trust the reviewed wines to be good, but you don’t know what I didn’t like. That should help make a decision. The same applies to tech and travel.
Thanks Andy. I was just wondering - if you bought a really expensive bottle of wine with your own money and you thought it was way over-priced and very poor quality would you write about that in your column? The reason I ask is I used to write restaurant reviews and all my expenses were paid by Rupert Murdoch (well, he didn’t actually hand over the money himself but you know what I mean). If I had a poor meal I wouldn’t hesitate to say so. My job in that situation became helping my readers avoid wasting their own hard-earned cash. I was their volunteer food taster and if I felt ill afterwards it was my duty to say so. However, and this ties in with my point about bloggers and freebies, if the meal had come to the table compliments of the chef, I would probably just not write about it rather than go for the jugular in print. I suspect the first instance probably offers a better service for the readers.
Thanks Andy. I was just wondering - if you bought a really expensive bottle of wine with your own money and you thought it was way over-priced and very poor quality would you write about that in your column? The reason I ask is I used to write restaurant reviews and all my expenses were paid by Rupert Murdoch (well, he didn’t actually hand over the money himself but you know what I mean). If I had a poor meal I wouldn’t hesitate to say so. My job in that situation became helping my readers avoid wasting their own hard-earned cash. I was their volunteer food taster and if I felt ill afterwards it was my duty to say so. However, and this ties in with my point about bloggers and freebies, if the meal had come to the table compliments of the chef, I would probably just not write about it rather than go for the jugular in print. I suspect the first instance probably offers a better service for the readers.
It’s a tough one. If I was forced to link I would be more likely to say something bad than nothing at all.
I’m thinking about this stuff and will report more later.
It’s a tough one. If I was forced to link I would be more likely to say something bad than nothing at all.
I’m thinking about this stuff and will report more later.