The Food Blog Code of Ethics

Posted by Helen Pitlick on
Friday, May 22nd, 2009 at 12:09 pm

Blogging has become a popular medium for food writing, as people are passionate about both cooking and eating; there are over 10,000 food blogs, and this number is growing. While most languish in obscurity, some, such as Simply Recipes, receive hundreds of thousands of views. Food blogs attract enough attention to have restaurateurs, chefs and traditional media critics up in arms over what they view as inferior reporting.

Food bloggers get a bad rap, though their negative reputation is ultimately rooted in some truth. Certain blogs steal information and make claims without citation; others bash restaurants without tact or evidence under the guise of being serious critics. Famed Chef Mario Batali wrote (on the food blog Eater), “Many of the anonymous authors who vent on blogs rant their snarky vituperatives from behind the smoky curtain of the web. This allows them a peculiar and nasty vocabulary that seems to be taken as truth by virtue of the fact that it has been printed somewhere. Unfortunately, this also allows untruths, lies and malicious and personally driven dreck to be quoted as fact.” Many restaurants also lament that critics no longer hand-select which establishments will be exclusively featured in the dining pages; anyone can come in with a camera and a pencil and write a review.

The Food Blog Code of Ethics intends to legitimize online food writing by providing guidelines and protocol to respectfully review restaurants. The founders of the movement, Brooke Burton and Leah Greenstein, write thoughtful, well-researched blogs and are tired of being grouped with those who do not. Many food bloggers started as professional journalists; for example, former PI writer Rebekah Denn’s career has gone from restaurant critic to online food writer to independent blogger. As the lines between journalism and blogging blur, some bloggers want to be seen as sources of news and information, while others write simply for the pleasure of it and cringe at the thought of adhering to proscribed rules. Though the Food Blog Code of Ethics is an attempt to mollify the critics of the critics, it in turn is subject to much criticism. As The Accidental Hedonist writes, “let’s stick to freedom of speech across the board! Let bloggers write what they want, without being condemned for not following someone else’s guidelines.”

Ultimately, whether a food blogger considers themselves to be a journalist or a hobbyist is not important: anything posted on the internet is in the public eye and subject to legal action if it is considered defamation, negative misrepresentation of a person’s or business’ character. An amateur food blogger does not need to follow the Code to do what they love, but if they do not carefully phrase their opinions, they are just as liable as the professional.