No free rides: Travel blogging and ethics

 

A woman sits with offerings for a religious ceremony, Swayambuthu, Kathmandu, Nepal.

 

Lately I've noticed a growing - and disturbing - trend among travel bloggers to accept multiple free trips from government tourist boards or travel companies and write about their experiences. In journalism school, professors taught Ethics 101: do not accept free trips or gifts in exchange for writing about a certain place or subject, lest we risk losing our objectivity.

This accept-no-favors policy was crafted to insure one never had to worry about offending those who funded the trip - or paid for dinner - if describing the experience in less-than-glowing terms. At every newspaper, radio and television station where I have worked as a reporter, this policy was rigidly enforced.

Today, the Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics continues to stress the importance of acting independently:

• Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived.

• Remain free of associations and activities that may compromise integrity or damage credibility.

• Refuse gifts, favors, fees, free travel and special treatment and shun secondary employment, political involvement, public office and service in community organizations if they compromise journalistic integrity.

Of course this begs the question: are bloggers journalists? Not always, but these bloggers seem to think they are, billing themselves as professional travel experts. So when did travel bloggers begin thinking it was okay to accept free trips?

Call me old school, but I am disappointed when reading about a blogger's all-expenses-paid trip to a beautiful locale. Some travel bloggers might be curious enough to do some background reading, but more often than not, their posts contain the same information, filtered through a vaguely-different lens. After all, many of these bloggers have stayed in the same (luxury) hotels and been guided to the same tourist hot spots - without ever once veering off the beaten path. They've been led around like sheep, albeit by knowledgeable shepherds. These bloggers know little other than what they've been told and therefore have just scratched the surface of that area. They haven't visited residential neighbourhoods or refugee camps or made much of an effort to see the way the locals live. How could they, when following their sponsor's self-serving itinerary?

Traveling vs. tourism

In my view, traveling on someone else's dime and someone else's agenda isn't traveling; it's tourism.

Simon Calder, senior travel editor for The Independent, London is known as “the man who pays his way."  Calder has said, “The cheaper you travel, the closer you get to the soul of a place… I don’t accept free transport or accommodation from the travel trade. As a result of this somewhat curious and eccentric policy, I tend to meet a lot of very interesting folk. The people with the best stories to tell live life in the cheap seats.”

So if you're back from all-expenses paid junket, I'm not interested in your hotel or tourist site recommendations. After all, you know only about the places you stayed - as a pampered guest - and have no basis to compare prices or amenities of other hotels that might be easier on the typical traveler's budget. And please don't try to pretend you're an authority on the area; visiting once and being escorted to specific tourist sites does not an expert make.

Taking advantage

Besides ethical questions raised when a blogger accepts a free trip, there's also the issue of an oil-free country so desperate for tourist dollars that it provides luxury trips it can ill-afford to fund. A vicious cycle is created, when a country dependent upon tourism is forced to expend limited financial resources promoting travel. In a region where tourism may be affected by the Arab Spring political uprisings, is it right for bloggers to take advantage of the situation?

Professional ethics

Last November in Nepal I met an American photographer who had traveled extensively in the region and  spoke a bit of the language. Nepal is an impoverished country largely dependent upon foreign aid. Its fractured government means that most citizens' services are in flux, leaving many people living hand-to-mouth. So I was appalled to discover after purchasing an expensive handpainted tanka - that took a skilled lama three months to produce - the photographer (who brought me to the school) demanded a commission on the sale. Even worse, he did it in a sly manner, when I had left the room. At the time, I wondered why he insisted on asking the price in dollars, when I told the vendor my credit card was in euros.

The photographer did the same thing when I bought a very pricey Tibetan prayer-book cover from an antiques shop, again in an underhanded manner. I was beginning to wonder if he had health issues, as he excused himself so often to go to the toilet. It seems while I was waiting downstairs, he was collecting commission on my purchases.

Had I known the photographer insisted on a commission from these businesses - which of course meant the fees I paid had been raised to include his commission - I wouldn't have bought either piece. The Nepalis deserved the money; the photographer didn't. Yet he took full advantage of small institutions that needed all the business they could attract. Plus he took advantage of my good nature and my pocketbook.

Back home, I was busy preparing for the move from France to the Netherlands. A few months later, I emailed the photographer about some outstanding issues, including him claiming commission on my purchases. He refused to directly address the matter. Instead he sent me the names of three charities he'd supposedly donated prints to and told me he'd once sent money to a local guide - as though any of that excused him demanding commission payments on purchases of any foreigner unlucky enough to go shopping with him.

No free lunch

What are your thoughts about the ethics of bloggers and/or journalists accepting all-expenses-paid trips to foreign destinations?

Comments

[Marilyn]

I totally agree with you on this one. I started blogging today about our adventure in Asia. It isn't quite as delightful as I usually write, but then I was traveling on my own dime. Hugs!

[ally bean]

I agree with you, of course. But then no one has ever wanted to comp me for a trip, so I guess that my ethics haven't been tested.

Still, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I'd never do anything underhanded like accepting free mdse/trips and then not telling my readers. I'm conscientious to a fault-- and fear karma-- and know that my mother would come back from the grave to read me the riot act if I ever did anything like that! So really, all things considered, I think that I'll stay on the ethical side of the blogosphere.

[Natalie]

Seriously? That's so wrong to accept bribes like that. And it's a lousy way to treat your readers. If you happen to be a positive sort of person and tend to write positive things about a place, that's great, but you should never be obligated to do so. I suppose the only way one could do this is to state up front that the trip was paid for and then continue with honest reporting, and call themselves a tourist. Period.

[Mary H.]

Well, Miss "Old School," eloquent and heartfelt per usual. I agree with you 100%. Seems manners and ethics are falling by the wayside as common sense is being bred out of the human species. I truly believe this some days more than others! The incident with the photographer is especially irksome. I am sure that karma will deal him what he truly deserves one day.

[Barbara]

Chris, above, makes an excellent point, I think. We would do well to remember that in recent years there has been a concerted effort by numerous parties to disguise their spin as 'authoritative' commentary or endorsement. I love the quote from Simon Calder: "The people with the best stories to tell live life in the cheap seats." Yea.

[Charles Baker]

The same goes for so-called Book Review bloggers who are just a wee bit too cozy with publishers; I would be much more likely to respect their opinions if it cost them something to formulate them.

[Merisi in Vienna]

I support your stance, anything else I consider dishonest, to say the least.
I am afraid, though, not everybody has even heard of Ethics 101.

[Chris]

What an interesting post. This has always been one of the questions on the forefront for me. When I hear a glowing report about anything, whether it be a restaurant, a film, even a book, I try to research the source of that material in terms of objectivity and independence. It's especially important now, when Corporatism is becoming even stronger and less questioned. I believe the only thing that is going to ensure our reporters stay independent is a refusal to accept their reports blindly. However, I'm continually reminded as time goes on, there is less critical thinking in mainstream society. Critical thinking is the opposite of passive acceptance, and I feel is the best way to ensure reporters strive to objectivity.

Bloggers are only as influential as we make them. That's a place for thinking critically (NOT the same as negatively), as well. The reader has to take responsibility, and to call out reporters when they are disingenuous, or blatantly unethical.

.

[leonie]

Nicely written Tara.

Must declare from the outset that I have no idea who you are talking about, though I think your point about NOT compromising journalistic integrity is important.

If that means full disclosure, then fine.

If someone is covering the fact that their all-expenses paid trip is anything other than that, then surely they won't be taken seriously for long and their reputation will suffer for it?

Well, I would hope that is the case anyway....!

[rochambeau]

Hello Tara,
With grace and eloquence you are able to state thoughts that I agree with.
While working for a newspaper as a stylist, we were not to accept gifts, never!

The photographer is a total disappointment too. The older I get, I realize how many people are just like that person and it is sad.
No one is perfect, but when we strive to be civil, the world becomes a better place.

xox
Constance

[Laurie]

Tara, this seems like the equivalent of the "fam" (familiarization) trips that have been offered to travel agents for years.. Just out of high school I worked as a travel agent and had the opportunity to go on two of them. Plane tickets were paid by the airlines, and I think the hotels paid for accommodations and tours. This was all designed to encourage the participants to recommend their services, or destination, when working with customers. People who made their living--which was usually quite modest--in the travel industry were able to travel to places they might never have been able to afford, and learn about these destinations to better guide their customers. While they might not have been able to experience a destination outside of the planned itinerary, they certainly provided a valuable service to many. And those that made solid recommendations were rewarded with repeat business, so it was in their best interest to be objective. If a blogger is merely an online version of the travel agent then they also provide a service to certain audience. However, if they bill themselves as something different than that then I imagine their success will be short lived. What I love about the www is that we have so many outlets to get the information we are seeking.

[martina]

Paying your own way not only gives the travel blogger/photographer better insight but also the freedom to give honest opinions re: locales. Same thing with people who blog about products advertised in their blog sidebars without admitting same. If I had a blog or did travel writing, would not accept free merchandise/trips.

[Tracy]

(That) photographer suggests even sight is choice. Since most choices will eventually require determined unyielding intent, this is a guy hard at work on his blindness.
It's also one of those stories that make me want to tell the rest of the Universe I'm from Mars in the same way that I would tell the rest of the world I'm Canadian, but it's hard to pull off with a Texas accent...