Please find below some of the emails and posts in reaction to the article "Please Don't Give Blogging A Bad Name"
Hi Ms. Salcedo,
I am Nonoy Ativo and I guess would qualify as a 'fan' of PDI, news and the truth. I agree completely and unequivocally with you on your stand regarding bloggers and blogging as a vector for truth in our digital community. I am a netizen, practically online 24/7 either at my desk or via my MyFi when I am mobile and also a consumer. I practice marketing as a profession and I believe that good or bad products and services deserve to be communicated to the public. But with this great power of connectivity comes the equally heavy responsibility of framing claims and narrations within the boundaries of truth. I feel that Pinoy bloggers should, at the very least, be monitored and regulated and if they go out of bounds, be spanked publicly so their credibility gets fried. I also wish that journalists would already cross-over to digital so they can lay down the best-in-class standards for the medium.
Thank you for writing the article.
Best regards,
Nonoy
Thanks for the reply. Yes, I would appreciate that. Sorry I couldn't
reveal my name because I do work with a lot of bloggers. It's really
my day job but I'm glad somebody's writing about the horror stories of some bloggers.
I've met a lot of great bloggers and I respect them so much. Pero may mga bad apples talaga.
I've also made a blog about my observations about blogging and social media. You can check it at hototay.blogspot.com. Nasa Facebook din yan. :)
Thanks so much!
=
I didn't know how to get this message to you but he found your blog, twitter and Facebook Fan Page for me. So since I saw your email on the right side of your blog, I decided to send this in to you.
Here are the threads where we have had a discussion on the matter. My boss also put in her two cents' worth for the deal.
Personally, I don't like what the blogger did. Much less what his PR firm did. One of my friends commented in private that it would have been better if you named the blogger and the firm, but that would be in bad taste. Not to mention that the firm could file libel against you.
Anyway, thank you for alerting us to this. If you want to take a look at the thread that was sparked by your article, here it is:
God bless, thank you for exposing the truth, and here's to your continued success!
Lorie
After all, I believe in this universe's ways of correcting or shaking out the bad apples: be they a consumer or an establishment owner.
But as for the blogger or journalist, I believe one should truly watch his or her principles and ethics.
Btw, a friend of mine, who's also a blogger, wondered if we as bloggers could actually file a case against the guy/gal, because he/she has damaged our repute as a niche industry.
I replied that while I am not the person to ask about that since I am NOT a lawyer, I just wanted to go with common sense: If you think about it, the Actors' guild should have filed a case against kay Cristine Reyes for her Twitter drama and irresponsibility, kung amu ni line of thinking nila.
An individual's action may have consequences that tainted an entire industry, but it doesn't represent the whole industry. And since we are a democratic country, we don't have the right to file a case that has no legal merit. The guy is still protected by the freedom of speech rights.
But his extortion is not excusable, and neither is it protected by any law. In fact, it is punishable by law. The restaurant owner should file the case, but only for extortion and libel. Not for damaging our reputation as an industry (blogging).
The damaging our reputation thing was only incidental. The restaurateur, since she was slighted and possibly even damaged, has every right to file an extortion case against the guy/gal. As for me, I think I'm done with this issue, since I've put in my $0.02.
Thanks for alerting us, though, Margaux. I believe this is a lesson learned for our industry as a whole. It's all about being responsible for how a writer, whether print media or new media, should wield his or her mighty weapon of the pen -- or computer. :)
EMAIL FROM "NONOY"
Jan 31, 2011
I am Nonoy Ativo and I guess would qualify as a 'fan' of PDI, news and the truth. I agree completely and unequivocally with you on your stand regarding bloggers and blogging as a vector for truth in our digital community. I am a netizen, practically online 24/7 either at my desk or via my MyFi when I am mobile and also a consumer. I practice marketing as a profession and I believe that good or bad products and services deserve to be communicated to the public. But with this great power of connectivity comes the equally heavy responsibility of framing claims and narrations within the boundaries of truth. I feel that Pinoy bloggers should, at the very least, be monitored and regulated and if they go out of bounds, be spanked publicly so their credibility gets fried. I also wish that journalists would already cross-over to digital so they can lay down the best-in-class standards for the medium.
Thank you for writing the article.
Best regards,
Nonoy
* * *
EMAIL FROM RESTAURANT MANAGER (requested not to publish name)Jan. 24, 2011
Hi Margaux,
I'm -, I think we've met a few years back. Anyway, I got your email address from your website. Hopefully, I got the right one.
Anyway, I was able to read your article on blogging early this morning, and I just wanted to give you a BIG thank you for that article. I, myself, am a restaurant owner, and I've been in the business for a little over 4 years now. It is a very tough business to be in, especially with all the competition popping in from all over. In addition to this the pressure from writers and food bloggers are sometimes very difficult to handle.
Some people dedicate their time and savings to open a store and pray that it works out for the best. And it's true that one comment from a "respected" food writer/blogger can make or break a restaurant's reputation. Over the years, I've encountered a number of writers/ media people who have dined in and asked for a freebie/discount. Honestly, giving is not a problem. The problem begins when they come back and ask for more freebies up to the point that they bring a group of 6 - 12 people and you have no choice but to "comp" their meal because they're "media". It's true that some bloggers approach restaurant owners/managers for free meals, to get a good review in return. I've experienced that, and some of my restaurant-owner friends have experienced it as well.
My point is, I've stopped believing in blogging/reviews (not just for food) here in the Philippines because of the numerous experiences me and my colleagues have experienced. With your article, however, it made me think that maybe there are still a few credible writers left in the Philippines. Thank you for speaking up on behalf of those who feel like they cannot do anything.
I leave you with a small line from the movie Ratatouille which struck me back then when it frist came out. " In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so."
Have a great week ahead!
Sincerely,
-
* * *
EMAIL FROM A TWEEP WHO REQUESTED TO "STAY IN THE BACKGROUND":
Jan. 27, 2011
Dito na kita sinagot at masyadong mainit ka sa bloggers. They want your head he he. Unless you name BBB. Kaibigan ko rin naman ang mga ibang bloggers...But it’s not the first time that I’ve heard your story. Heard it from another food writer but dismiss it. I still have to hear it from friends who are restaurant owners.
* * *
EMAIL FROM KRISTIN WELLS (I believe this a pen name)
Jan. 25, 2011
From the restaurant community, we just wanted to say thank you for the expose of Margaux Salcedo. Hope you could forward this to her as we do not know how to contact her. Everything she said is true. We have our own experiences similar to Georgia. We just cannot surface because of the attacks that some bloggers make against us. In fact we think that Margaux is now taking the punch for us. We've been following the reactions to the expose and we think some of the reactions have become personal attacks against her because she did not name the "Big Bad Blogger". We think this is very unfair and have written this post which we posted here . We are supporting her as she has been very brave in helping us. Please let her know we are very grateful. We are confident that opportunist bloggers and unethical PR firms will now be more careful. Thank you.
Some excerpts from their post:
Margaux Salcedo and the Big Bad Blogger
I don't usually write, but after this explosion from the article and the number of comments from both friends and on the net, I felt the need to write. I believe it was a great expose and feel bad that some are attacking Margaux when it's the PRACTICE that she exposed that should be condemned.
First of all, I have to laud Inquirer for being true to their commitment of having "fearless views", with writers like Margaux Salcedo who are brave enough to expose such tawdry behavior by some - SOME, not all - members of the blogging community.
Even the person who is most suspected of being the Big Bad Blogger had to concede that Margaux was very brave for writing this expose. Wrote Anton Diaz on his Facebook page:
Anton Diaz' reacts on his FB page - 'Nice article by Margaux Salcedo :) The girl has guts :) ' http://on.fb.me/giwuApmargauxsalcedo @
*
Margaux has no need to identify the Big Bad Blogger. If you read her article well, you will see that she was talking negatively about the PRACTICE and NOT the person and certainly not the blogging community in general.
@JimAyson stated it most succinctly: "RT @JimAyson: Why is @margauxsalcedo being vilified? She's just pointing out the elephant in the room - the phenomenon of the blogger as a paid hack" .
I think the number of retweets of this tweet will show that on the contrary, a LOT are annoyed by the whining of those who are asking Margaux to "name names".
In fact, after re-reading it, I think Margaux's article was very carefully thought out and very responsibly published.
Read it again. She was so careful to protect the blogging community.
* * *
EMAIL FROM HOTOTAY:
Jan. 23, 2011
Hi, Margaux,
Thanks for the reply. Yes, I would appreciate that. Sorry I couldn't
reveal my name because I do work with a lot of bloggers. It's really
my day job but I'm glad somebody's writing about the horror stories of some bloggers.
I've met a lot of great bloggers and I respect them so much. Pero may mga bad apples talaga.
I've also made a blog about my observations about blogging and social media. You can check it at hototay.blogspot.com. Nasa Facebook din yan. :)
Thanks so much!
=
Hi, Margaux,
I just read your Big Bad Bloggers article on Inquirer.net. I must say that your article touched a nerve. I'm a digital marketing specialist, directly dealing with bloggers. Madami pang horror stories about bloggers and even PR agencies.
The thing is, many bloggers have feelings of grandeur and entitlement but no sense of responsibility. They demand payment from PR agencies and their clients even without key deliverables.
They would ask for, let's say, P10,000 but it's still not a guarantee that they would write something (kahit passing mention lang) about the client. Paano naman yun, di ba?
Hay naku. Madami pang horror stories diyan. Hanap ka lang ng mga taga-agencies.
Hototay
I just read your Big Bad Bloggers article on Inquirer.net. I must say that your article touched a nerve. I'm a digital marketing specialist, directly dealing with bloggers. Madami pang horror stories about bloggers and even PR agencies.
The thing is, many bloggers have feelings of grandeur and entitlement but no sense of responsibility. They demand payment from PR agencies and their clients even without key deliverables.
They would ask for, let's say, P10,000 but it's still not a guarantee that they would write something (kahit passing mention lang) about the client. Paano naman yun, di ba?
Hay naku. Madami pang horror stories diyan. Hanap ka lang ng mga taga-agencies.
Hototay
HOTOTAY'S POST:
Big Bad Blogger and Other Blogger Horror Stories
Much has been said about the big bad blogger. If you haven’t read about it, you can read it here. I find it satisfying that the bad practices of some bloggers have been exposed. There are a lot of decent bloggers but there are also bad apples. And the bad apples are not just newbie bloggers but some are active and considered influential bloggers.
In my experience dealing with bloggers, I’ve had a fair share of dealing with these big bad bloggers. I’ll share some of them.
Read more of this post here
* * *
EMAIL FROM "NENYALORIEN". Friend with quoted suggestion is Ted Wahler:
Jan. 23, 2011
1)
Hi Ms. Margaux,
I read your article from a friend's blog and posted it on my Facebook Wall. One of my friends reacted and suggested this:
I read your article from a friend's blog and posted it on my Facebook Wall. One of my friends reacted and suggested this:
A good Social Media Manager tries to turn these lemons into lemonade. Of course a restaurateur is not expected to be an expert in managing the social web and the alleged tactics of the alleged PR agency were illegal, immoral, unprofessional..., desperate, etc., but this situation can be managed.
Present this challenge to a few of the large and reputable PR firms along with the whole backstory and details about the extortion attempt. Give a few of the firms a chance to present you with a strategy in exchange for the opportunity to crush the vermin in their industry.
I would propose to the restaurant owner a strategy to publicly invite the reviewer to an all-media event along with competing critics for a re-test of the establishment. Build media buzz about the event and invite celebrities. Put the heat on in the form of a spotlight for everyone to behave and conduct business legitimately. Then let the battle royale play-out.
The winning PR firm will get a chance to prove itself and to help clean-up the industry, strengthening loyalty among current clients and attracting new ones. A lot better than billboards.
The restaurant owner gets the chance to clear the bad review, get out from under the extortion machine, and build a bunch of buzz.
Ironically almost everyone has a chance for a win here in that the original food blogger gets the chance to dissociate from the evil PR company and start fresh (with some free PR).
That is my 60 second take on the situation from a PR guy's perspective. What do you think?
I didn't know how to get this message to you but he found your blog, twitter and Facebook Fan Page for me. So since I saw your email on the right side of your blog, I decided to send this in to you.
Here are the threads where we have had a discussion on the matter. My boss also put in her two cents' worth for the deal.
Personally, I don't like what the blogger did. Much less what his PR firm did. One of my friends commented in private that it would have been better if you named the blogger and the firm, but that would be in bad taste. Not to mention that the firm could file libel against you.
Anyway, thank you for alerting us to this. If you want to take a look at the thread that was sparked by your article, here it is:
http://www.facebook.com/nenyalorien/posts/ 187527777943633
God bless, thank you for exposing the truth, and here's to your continued success!
Lorie
2) Grabe, this issue has sparked debates wherever it touched. But it is well and good: it challenges our personal ethics and draws the sword on where we stand. :) Thanks again po! :D
3)
Thanks to your article, I decided to create a personal policy that even if I have a negative experience in the establishments I go to, I'd rather keep mum and say nothing instead of saying something I would regret. One reason is that a conflict based on subjective negativity is not worth it. Should the establishment have an overwhelmingly negative experience to offer, other patrons would find that out anyway, and social media chismis would be more than enough to damage that establishment's reputation. I'd rather not have a part in sparking anyone's downfall. After all, I believe in this universe's ways of correcting or shaking out the bad apples: be they a consumer or an establishment owner.
But as for the blogger or journalist, I believe one should truly watch his or her principles and ethics.
Btw, a friend of mine, who's also a blogger, wondered if we as bloggers could actually file a case against the guy/gal, because he/she has damaged our repute as a niche industry.
I replied that while I am not the person to ask about that since I am NOT a lawyer, I just wanted to go with common sense: If you think about it, the Actors' guild should have filed a case against kay Cristine Reyes for her Twitter drama and irresponsibility, kung amu ni line of thinking nila.
An individual's action may have consequences that tainted an entire industry, but it doesn't represent the whole industry. And since we are a democratic country, we don't have the right to file a case that has no legal merit. The guy is still protected by the freedom of speech rights.
But his extortion is not excusable, and neither is it protected by any law. In fact, it is punishable by law. The restaurant owner should file the case, but only for extortion and libel. Not for damaging our reputation as an industry (blogging).
The damaging our reputation thing was only incidental. The restaurateur, since she was slighted and possibly even damaged, has every right to file an extortion case against the guy/gal. As for me, I think I'm done with this issue, since I've put in my $0.02.
Thanks for alerting us, though, Margaux. I believe this is a lesson learned for our industry as a whole. It's all about being responsible for how a writer, whether print media or new media, should wield his or her mighty weapon of the pen -- or computer. :)
Lorie
* * *
ABS-CBN
Who's the 'Big Bad Blogger?'
BLOGGER ANTON DIAZ CLEARS HIS NAME
* * *
BLOGGER MARKETMAN'S REACTION and another related post on similar experiences
* * *
BLOGGER JANE DE CHUA'S EXTENSIVE POST
Excerpt:
JimAyson @chinosingson the big bad blogger would be tortured in camp crame 
gibbscadiz What to do when approached by a big bad blogger and/or big bad PR firm http://nblo.gs/dMTmC
harold_geronimo RT @harold_geronimo: If there's a Big Bad Blogger and the Big Bad PR Firm, now there are Big Bad Generals. All of them deny to have extorted or received money. 
Who's the 'Big Bad Blogger?'
Posted at 01/31/2011 5:59 PM | Updated as of 01/31/2011 11:55 PM
* * *MANILA, Philippines - Some of the country's prominent food bloggers have denied that they accept compensation in exchange for a good review.
Anton Diaz of Our Awesome Planet and Carlo Ople of New Media Philippines made their respective statements following food writer Margaux Salcedo's controversial article on the Sunday Inquirer Magazine 2 weeks ago, which cited how bloggers "pretend to be unbiased and unpaid but they are now being used by PR firms."
In the article, Salcedo claimed that a PR company ("The Firm") offered a restaurant ("Georgia") good reviews from a food blogger ("Big Bad Blogger" or "BBB") for a monthly fee of P120,000, creating a huge buzz among the Philippine blogging community. Diaz, after being asked by netizens via his blog and social networking sites, maintained that he doesn't "get advertising from restaurants or places we feature, and freebies pre- or post-blog posts to avoid conflict of interest."
"Our Awesome Planet is NOT connected with, compensated by, or represented by any PR firm that would resort to restaurant extortion. We abhor that practice," he said in a blog post.
He added that his "conscience is clear and we do hope that the truth will come out soon."
Ople, on the other hand, went beyond clearing his name and suggested ways for restaurant owners to avoid being extorted by abusive bloggers.
"From a marketing standpoint, the restaurant owner overreacted. They could've easily countered it by inviting more food bloggers who would give 'balanced' reviews, especially if their food is that good. Now if most of the bloggers invited also gave bad reviews then the owner should look closely at her products," he explained in a blog post.
Salcedo didn't say who the people involved were, but she did recognize Marketman of Market Manila and Lori Baltazar of Dessert Comes First for "working hard to maintain (their) integrity."
Marketman, who was featured in the food and travel show of well-known boar buff Anthony Bourdain, thanked Salcedo for bringing this issue to light.
"I have RAILED vehemently against the lack of disclosure, the freebies, paid advertisements, etc. several times over the last several years, sometimes to an occasional outburst of indignation from other writers, press people, PR professionals, advertising folks and readers," he said in a blog post.
So who is BBB? Diaz, Ople, Marketman and the rest of the Philippine blogosphere are still waiting for Salcedo to reveal the people behind the so-called controversy.
In the meantime, they have to make do with the "Big Bad Blogger," a Twitter user who portrays the unnamed extortionist.
Not surprisingly, his first tweet was "Just ate at Georgia's restaurant."
BLOGGER ANTON DIAZ CLEARS HIS NAME
* * *
BLOGGER MARKETMAN'S REACTION and another related post on similar experiences
* * *
BLOGGER JANE DE CHUA'S EXTENSIVE POST
Excerpt:
Some people speculate that maybe PR Firm is only dropping names and is hinting that they are connected with BBB, unbeknownst to BBB. This is not the first time that this has happened. Last year, I caught wind that a certain person extended what seemed to be restaurant invites to bloggers. Bloggers agreed to welcome the invitation on a scheduled date. Little did they know that this person asked for a fee to the tune of P7,000 per blogger that he brought to the restaurant, supposedly.
Bloggers were enraged to know later that those “invites” were actually paid for by the restaurants –that their mere visit wasn’t a welcomed chance of getting to know the restaurant better out of own volition. It was expected because there was money dispensed and pocketed. Are the restaurant owners also expecting a glowing review after the visit? If there was a promise of attendance in exchange of cash, what else was promised other than that?
This is why bloggers are adamant to establish first if BBB and the PR Firm in fact have relations and if they are in cahoots because for all we know, BBB genuinely found the first restaurant good and the second restaurant bad. PR Firms are known for their timing.
But who knows, BBB might be using the PR Firm and not the other way around? Who ACTUALLY knows?
* * *
BLOGGER DEMENTIA-FOODISTA'S POST
Some comments:
- Shydub
01/23/2011 05:37 AM -
Riajose 01/23/2011 01:54 AM -
dementia 01/23/2011 02:06 AM
* * *
HIMANTAYON-CAGAYAN.INFO'S REACTION
So I just hope, this will be a warning for all the bloggers and aspiring bloggers specially in the Philippines, where corruptions is as rampant as the number of child being born everyday. I may not be a recognized blogger but I certainly make sure that what I write on my blog is my own opinion and that no one dictates me to do it against my will and conscience.
There are some restaurants and companies and/or events where bloggers were invited and I have joined few of them, but without a doubt we were not being requested or required that we should write just positive comments in our blogposts. So far, those who invited us didn’t do that kind of style and we will never allow that in the first place. We were free to write about what we experienced on the event and it’s in our own judgment what we should write, be it positive or negative as long as it is what we observed or experienced. Yes, I have posted a blogpost about a bad service of a certain foodchain before and I wasn’t being paid to do it, I just stated the fact that I was a victim of the certain foodchain which has an awful quality of customer service and that’s it. It is my sole opinion without any influences from others.Hopefully, this type of new media corruption that a certain PR Company and Big Bad Blogger have been doing will not continue and we should fight to stop such kind of bad influences to the Blogging Community in the Philippines.
* * *
GLOBAL VOICES ONLINE'S OBSERVATIONS
* * *
NEWMEDIA.COM.PH'S REACTION
* * *
BLOGGER/JOURNALIST GIBBS CADIZ' ANALYSIS:
Excerpts:
Chill, dude. If you're not Big Bad Blogger, then you're not.
May I just say at this point, as both a blogger and a journalist (a member of the suddenly-suspect "traditional media" out to smear the so-called blogging community, according to some hyperactive minds)--and, more importantly, as someone who deals with the effluvia of PR machinery day in and day out in my job: I believe businesses are not helpless against the blogging horde, or the unscrupulous PR firms that try to use them as a battering ram for shakedowns. On the contrary, stopping them in their tracks can be quite easy.
ASIANCORRESPONDENT.COM'S ANALYSIS
Excerpt:
Ms. Salcedo did not identify Big Bad Blogger nor the PR company but she provided enough juicy bits that has the Philippine blogosphere going ape shit. Ms. Salcedo’s piece was an appeal to these bloggers not to misuse blogging by corrupting it.* * *
“They pretend to be unbiased and unpaid but they are now being used by PR firms.” She shared that for the launch of a dessert product, the PR firm invited bloggers and gave away Lomo cameras. “But they’re worse than traditional media,” Georgia continued, “because we never experienced that kind of extortion from food writers. What happens now is you have to pay the PR firm for your protection from these bloggers. The thing about blogs is that not a lot of people know that they are already becoming a PR arm.”Corruption, of course, is not the monopoly of anyone. But I’ve heard enough stories about corrupt bloggers and the many scams they perpetrate — from launching blogging awards or manipulating these to using their newfound fame to scam people — that I’m convinced there will come a time that these unsavory practices will shake the blogging community in the same manner that the yellow journalism of old in the US helped reform the media community
@momblogger's piece and compilation of tweets
* * *
OTHER WITTY TWITTIES:
JimAyson @chinosingson the big bad blogger would be tortured in camp crame gibbscadiz What to do when approached by a big bad blogger and/or big bad PR firm http://nblo.gs/dMTmC I wish media would seek the truth not have a pre-conceived spin on what they think bloggers are. Not liking the "spin" of this media outfit.
@momblogger it should not be media seeking the truth alone, it should also be bloggers accepting the truth that there are bloggers like BBB
harold_geronimo RT @harold_geronimo: If there's a Big Bad Blogger and the Big Bad PR Firm, now there are Big Bad Generals. All of them deny to have extorted or received money. Si Big Bad Blogger daw ang dahilan ng pagsabog ng bus sa EDSA Buendia.
@LeePhils sensitive pala mga bloggers, dapat gumaya sila sa tinatawag nilang traditional media na makakapal mukha hahaha
»
“@ssowy: Buti na lang walang nagbabasa ng blog ko.” -- Haha pareho tayo
»
I would not be surprised if somebody would call for a congressional inquiry about BBB hehe
Telcos are behing this BBB controversy so that bloggers would stop talking about broadband cap.
And of course, the birth of @bigbadblogger:
