This document discusses the issue of corruption in online media, specifically focusing on "loot bag bloggers" in the Philippines who only attend events and write articles in exchange for free products and gifts. While this issue represents a small minority of bloggers, it brings up debates around transparency and ethics and the increasing commercialization and monetization of blogs. Experts acknowledge that while paid sponsorships are common and a way for bloggers to make money, there needs to be honesty and disclosure around any financial arrangements to avoid deceiving readers. The line also needs to be drawn at writing dishonest positive reviews just for payment. Overall, the key is for bloggers to run their sites professionally and transparently.

1. Is corruption of the media
creeping online?
BYANGELA CASAUAY
POSTED ON 11/13/2012 9:54 AM | UPDATED 11/23/2012 12:31 PM
MANILA, Philippines - From the "Big Bad" to the loot bag?
It's common practice for companies or groups to distribute gifts or loot bags to mainstream media
reporters after an event as a token of appreciation. But a group of mostly "mom bloggers," have
allegedly been attending events only if loot bags are distributed afterwards.
Content writer Jude Cartalaba, who is also a public relations practitioner, said the "loot bag
bloggers" would at times, end up not writing an article for the event they were supposed to cover.
"Most of the loot bag bloggers are moms, but not all of them. There's nothing wrong with being a
mommy blogger as long as you deliver. Sometimes they don't deliver. They get invited by PR
departments but most of them wouldn't even bother to come up with their own articles,"
Cartalaba said.
Because blogs are viewed as a more subjective form of media, as compared to traditional media
that are ideally more objective, Cartalaba said that PR firms expect bloggers to provide original
content from their own unique point of view.
"However, some would rely on copy-pasting. Some companies would prefer that they have
something to say and deliver to the public," he said.

2. They prefer attending consumer events, Cartalaba said, because these provide them an
opportunity to choose from the various products they could take home that day.
Cartalaba said that some of the "mommy bloggers" even compare what's inside the loot bags.
And when they don't get invites, one particular blogger would rant about it on Twitter.
"They would even insist. If they're not invited, they would find their way to be invited. If one
blogger is invited within their circle of friends, they would let everyone know and then they would
flock to the event," he said.
Although noting that such instances only represent a small percentage of the entire blogging
community, Cartalaba said similar behavior are also known of bloggers invited by a television
network, who would not attend the events if they would not get at least P1,000 or P1,000 worth of
gift checks.
Not limited to bloggers
University of the Philippines professor DaniloArao said the issue of accepting financial
compensation or other rewards in exchange for a favorable write up is not exclusive to bloggers.
"To some extent, the corruption that's happening in media would tend to cut across the different
platforms. There are similar situations, whether in radio or print, where some people called
haoshaos (fake journalists) just use their press card to get perks," Arao said.
As a PR practitioner, Cartalaba said he has seen "envelopmental journalism," a term derived
from the practice of giving journalists envelopes with money. Some of these journalists are from
lifestyle and entertainment, while others even come uninvited.
Cartalaba said he believes bloggers are still the "lesser evil" as the practice of providing cash to
traditional media journalists is much more ingrained in the industry.
In the November 16 episode of Breaking Glass, political consultant and advertising expert Greg
Garcia talked about "envelopmental journalism" in politics and confirmed that there are also
bloggers who are already accepting payment for content.
"There are already bloggers who are already being paid, there are brokers who say, I can get
you this blogger, I don't know how legitimate that is, but there are already brokers. I don't believe
in buying off bloggers. It's like buying off everybody, everybody can be a blogger, it's been
democratized, anyone can put up a blog anytime you want." he said.
Janette Toral, author of the book Blogging From Home, and blogger behind Influential Blogger
and the Digital Filipino, said journalists should first clean up their act before requiring the same of
bloggers.

3. "There have been attacks on bloggers and the execution is even through a blind item. There's
this undue expectation on bloggers. Accepting freebies and the like, it's happening also in
traditional media. In fact, precedent ngasila," she said.
In 2011, the Philippine Daily Inquirer published a blind item column about a “Big Bad Blogger”
managed by a PR firm who allegedly tried to extort money from a restaurateur. A number of
bloggers whose names were connected to the rumor have since denied their involvement in the
matter in an ABS-CBN report.
But Arao said it should not be a case of "the pot calling the kettle black" as some bloggers have
now realized the need to "professionalize" their craft to maintain their audience.
"Because of the high incidents of spamming, trolling and free-loaders, many bloggers now realize
that there is a need to be responsible. There is a certain degree of variety or of professionalism
that is necessary that you're able to maintain your readers," he said.
Commodification of blogs
From being mere “online diaries” in the 1990s in the advent of the dotcom boom, blogs are now
increasingly becoming more “commodified” or commercialized as advertising tools become more
accessible.
"It used to be that bloggers write because they are passionate about the things they write about.
I'm not saying that traditional media aren't passionate but it's part of their job, as opposed to
bloggers, who just do it on the side," Cartalaba said.
Cartalaba said he believes that unless bloggers have attained a certain status or designed a
sustainable model for their blogs, they should not be doing it full-time and using it as a source of
income.
"But now, it has evolved. Bloggers see that there is a future, there's a profit and they're now
being tapped as an extension of the public relations strategy of companies," he added.
New media theorist Geert Lovink writes in his book, "Zero Comments: Blogging and Critical
Internet Culture" that back in the 1990s, “Blog culture was not developed enough to be
dominated by venture capital.”
“Blogs first appeared as casual conversations that could not be easily commodified,” Lovink
wrote.
But with the rise of web 2.0 also came the rise of citizen journalism and what some may call
“professional bloggers,” or bloggers who do it full-time.
Being a blogger can now be a distinction and even a profession.

4. For example, Anton Diaz, author of ourawesomeplanet.com, quit his day job to focus on his blog,
according to his online profile.
Public relation companies are expectedly aware of the trend. One example is the launch of the
Magnum ice cream brand early this year, where promotions centered on social media marketing.
Celebrity ambassadors were selected based on the number of their followers and bloggers were
invited to their events, pushing an already popular international brand into a local “trending topic.”
Despite the bad press that enveloped the so-called "Big Bad Blogger" issue last year, restaurant
owners in Taguig said they had a similar experience with a blogger after the article came out.
They said they invited a popular food blogger to their restaurant through their PR company but
they were informed that the blogger would only write an article if he was paid an amount with 5
digits.
But the owners said this was an isolated case as most food bloggers whom they invited came
without asking for any financial compensation.
Sustainable blogs
Bloggers can now use a variety of models to make their blogs financially sustainable.
Online tools designed to bring in revenues through advertisements are now more accessible. For
example, bloggers can subscribe to blog advertising community Nuffnang, which does not only
serve blogs with advertisements that match their content and readership, but also provides
opportunities to attend free bloggers' events and get offers for paid posts.
A similar example is Google Adsense, where bloggers can apply as publishers, get verified,
customize their advertisements then publish them on their website.
For bloggers who accept paid posts, the rate is determined by their web traffic and other
variables, such as reader interaction. The higher the traffic, the higher the rate. For paid tweets,
Rob Angeles, founder of the "Philippines’ first social media blog," said the rate depends on the
following variables: influence of the user, reach, engagement, number of followers, and Klout or
Kred Score, which measures your web influence.
Information from paypertweet.com, a website that allows Twitter users to accept offers for paid
tweets, shows that celebrities such as Shakira get paid up to $23,000 per tweet. In the
Philippines, the usual rate per tweet is P1 per follower, such that a Twitter user with 20,000
followers could earn P20,000 per tweet.
For those whose followers have reached up to 100,000 or even millions, the compensation
comes in packages, depending on the product's marketing strategy campaign.
Deception

5. Hans Eric Roxas Chua, co-program director of e-learning EDGE's Certified Digital Market
Program, said that engaging bloggers and Twitter personalities is different from dealing with
commercial entities such as publishers because arrangements tend to be personal and unique
for each of them.
"I would caution against generalizing “bloggers” and “Twitter personalities.” Treat them as you
would treat a person face-to-face, you have to get to know a person first before proposing
something, right? Before you engage someone, make sure you research that person’s
blog/Twitter account first. They may have a related position about whatever communications you
want to engage them for," he said.
Chua said that the deals for each blogger, whether through advertisements, paid posts, or paid
tweets, are tailored to each blogger depending on his market.
"Again, since this is very personal, it can range from a simple invite to try out your product (for
free), even shouldering simple travel expenses. If they like your product they may not even ask
for anything in return. There are also online celebrities that charge the same way a celebrity
endorser would. You may also deal with commercial entities (agencies, blog networks), to reach
bloggers that are open to a commercial arrangement," he said.
Arao, who is a blogger himself, said there are certain sponsors who would clearly require
bloggers not to disclose that posts have been paid for and to write only positive reviews.
"What is basic in the issue of selling or monetization is the element of deception," he said.
"For bloggers, there is a degree of disclosure necessary when it comes to sponsored posts or
paid links," he added.
Entrepreneurial
But Toral believes that arrangements for paid posts are "private transactions" between the client
and the blogger, and it is a way for bloggers to be "entrepreneurial."
"As long as you're not fooling anyone, you're not manufacturing any information. There's nothing
wrong with it, I believe," she said.
Beauty and fashion blogger Liz Lanuzo, who has been blogging for 7 years, said that while paid
posts written for the purposes of launching or announcing new products are acceptable, the line
must be drawn in writing paid reviews.
"It defeats the purpose. Reviewing something, for me, means that I have to write what's good
and what's bad about it. If there's nothing bad then I would say there's nothing bad, but I do not
want to be pressured to water down or hide an opinion or information that may dissuade my
readers from buying what I just reviewed," she said.
The key word is honesty, according to Arao.

6. "We go back to the basics here. There is nothing wrong, despite the weakness of online
monetization, in general, there is nothing wrong with making money online -- for as long as you
do it as honestly as possible," he said. - Rappler.com