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Oh come on.  Anyone with an ounce of intelligence knows there's no integrity in anything.  Doctors get free shit from drug companies; I'm not shocked to see that writers get free shit for writing favorably about certain companies.  Either way, it has, essentially, no effect on my decisions.  I don't go eat at places because some "hip blog" told me it's great.

what if I told you I've gone to places I've seen Guy Fieri eat at?  *hangs head in shame*

As a dumb question, did you think to yourself, "Eh, why should we do this article on Ben and Jerry's or Oreos, shouldn't they just buy ad space?"

You guys aren't food bloggers, and I wouldn't exactly expect a hard hitting review, ESPECIALLY on junk food.  Was the point of the article just to see how many cookies you could shove in a hipster's mouth?

One day after receiving an offer for a free meal at a nice restaurant downtown, I decided to see what the gift policies of the major food blogs were.  I visited all of them and none had their policy posted on their sites where it could easily be found.  Some had no policy at at all.  I have since been to many PR dinners where some of the "majors" have been present, and when articles have appeared about eh place in question, there usually isn't any mention of the free meal.  From what I understand, only the NY Times and select few pubs have  absolute "lines in the sand" about accepting anything free from restaurants.

Kudos to Gothamist for calling this out.

where do yelpers fit in all of this.. ? ;)

Amanda from Eater here. A note I just wrote in to Gothamist about TICKETGATE:

I never really thought I'd have the chance to use the LAN ticket due to
financial and time related constraints, so I didn't put a lot of weight
on the issue. But in order to save myself (if I can be saved) from moral
bankruptcy and the accusations of payola, I will officially and
indubitably surrender said ticket to assure it doesn't get used.

As far as the Eater post is concerned, I would have written about the
event regardless of my ending up with a ticket and did not attend with
the expectation of getting one. It was a nice story about a lot of nice
people getting a nice surprise.

So basically, you crumble to peer pressure. 

As a reader I DO care about things like this but that's why I don't read sites like Eater or Grub Street to begin with - why would I care what careerist, dime-a-dozen people have to say about anything? There are so many professional bloggers and aspiring professional bloggers who write in that same jocular voice, and who all write about the SAME topics that were pitched to them, and who have the same tacky habit of trying to stir up "debate" where there isn't one, and who all strike the same "smartass" pose while happily doing the bidding of publicists and advertisers ... to pick one or two of those blogs and say to myself "oh interesting, I should read this regularly" ... no. No, no, no. There are two kinds of bloggers: those who feel some sort of obligation to keep up with the press releases they receive, and those who are willing to be more independent, and to write about what interests them. I only care about the latter. These bloggers you mention in this story are the blogging equivalent of Joe the Plumber, but for office workers in their 20s and 30s instead of cranky middle-aged Walmart people. They maybe sometimes capture what is going on at the moment, but it's not because they have interesting ideas or unique voices - it's because there are just so damn many of them and they're all relentlessly covering the same topics and writing in the same voice. I don't think the free flights would bother me so much if these people had anything of value to write about it. Parasitic chirping doesn't cut it for me.

i'm surprised more commenters aren't bothered by payola.  the argument seems to be that, as long as you're not the nyt, bribes are legit.  and, the less disclosed, the better.  

i do agree that jake thinks he's the emperor.  the intentional pot-stirring, and sometimes race-baiting, for page-views is not ethical either.  

it's a job benefit for some courtesies, unless of course your a cop and it's a ticket.

i'm almost 100% sure i don't think of myself as the emperor of anything. if there's an emperor of the site, it could be jen chung, but it's definitely not me.  

in any case, i think i'm allowed to stir the pot once in awhile, especially when it seems like a genuine ethical issue that deserves to be discussed.  we're going to follow up this post with another one, asking each site to specifically state it's policy on freebies, and say whether the bloggers who took these tickets will be allowed to keep them.  i think the resulting transparency will be healthy- and i think it's interesting for some readers to learn how this sausage gets made.  -jake

Learning how the sausage is made would be excellent, and I'm hoping that you intend to apply this to Gothamist as well as pushing it on other blogs. 

One thing I've been curious about is your relationship with the Diamond Bar. They made your list of best outdoor bars in NYC, your list of the 5 best bartenders NYC, and recently, your list of the best beer bars in NYC (their website seems to indicate that they only have 9 beers on tap). You've also gotten quotes from their bartender for quite a few articles and used stock photos of the bar in other non-related stories. 

I'm sure it's a great place, and I don't mean to exclusively point a finger at them, but this is exactly the sort of thing where a little transparency would really add some perspective to the articles. It's possible that you just REALLY like this place, but have they given you free drinks? Is someone at Gothamist close friends with the owner/bartender?

I don't know anyone at Diamond Bar, but I will ask the food editors.  -Jake

Any word on this? I haven't seen any follow up from you guys on the article or about Diamond Bar, but it's possible I missed it. Would love to see gothamist incorporate some transparency in their reviews and take the lead on this. 

I only know the owner from going in the place; he's a very nice guy but we're not friends and have never socialized. I like to highlight places that are off the beaten path, and what their beer selection lacks in breadth it makes up for in depth--the owner is a serious beer nerd and his list is very well curated. I also love the design, the backyard, the jukebox, the games, the gondola. And we have used him as a source (among other sources) for stories about the state assembly possibly forcing bars with backyards to close earlier. The owner actually started a group of bar owners to fight the proposed bill, so he was certainly a relevant source. And I've never gotten free drinks there. None of the bartenders even recognize me.

But since I've seen you comment repeatedly on posts that mention Diamond Bar, I'd love to know why this bothers you so much!

Thanks for chiming in! I really appreciate both of you taking the time to get back. I wasn't trying to imply that it bothers me, only that I would have a better perspective on the reviews knowing this info. And shit, sounds like I should check the place out!

If you had gotten free drinks, I don't think I would necessarily call bullshit, rather I'd just read those articles with a large(r) grain of salt.  

I think this is the only post I've ever commented on about diamond bar. I largely use this account to urge fellow cyclists to follow the laws for our mutual benefit. But I'm not some disgruntled greenpoint barkeep who feels like he's getting burned. I thought Jake made an interesting case for transparency, and that got me thinking about tendencies I've noticed in Gothamist write-ups. 

Thanks again! 

I asked the editors about it, but nobody had a personal connection to Diamond Bar beyond liking to drink there.   I don't see an ethical conflict in that- the food and drink editors are entitled to their opinions, and even to have favorite venues.   The editors may ring in with a further explanation.  

So let me get this straight. You chose not to attend on the grounds that LAN should pay for advertising rather than getting it for free through a blog post covering their little stunt, yet you wrote about the stunt anyway thus giving them the free advertising you were against in the first place? Holy mind f***, Batman!

YO DAWG I HEARD YOU LIKE TO BLOG ABOUT BLOGGING SO I PUT A POST ON YOUR BLOG ABOUT POSTING