As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m taking a class this semester called Ethics on the Digital Frontier where we’re looking at the way traditional journalism ethics are changing as the media landscape expands and evolves. I’m writing my final paper about blogging ethics, specifically looking at the questions raised for book bloggers regarding the FTC’s recent disclosure guidelines.
In order to make sure the paper doesn’t just have my impressions as a book blogger about the guidelines, I’m turning to all of you to get your thoughts on the FTC guidelines and disclosures issues more generally.
If you have time to answer the following four questions, I would really appreciate it. Answers will be generally anonymous — I have no plans to publish the paper (other than here on the blog if readers are interested), and will happily remove your name or blog affiliation if privacy is a concern.
- Before the FTC disclosure guidelines were published, did you have a review or disclosure policy for your blog?
- What was your reaction when you heard about the FTC disclosure guidelines? Did you post this response (and could you share a link)?
- Since the FTC guidelines took effect, what changes have you made to your blog or the way you write about books?
- What types of relationships do you feel bloggers are ethically obligated to disclose (ie ignoring the FTC requirements)?
If you’re comfortable, feel free to leave your answers in the comments. If not, please e-mail them to sophisticated.dorkiness [at] gmail.com.
THANK YOU!!
Photo Credit: Becky McCray on Flickr
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Sure, Kim!
1. I did not have a review or disclosure policy until January of this year. I was fine without one. I did, however, always state if I got a book for free to review. I still do so.
2. I did post a response! http://aartichapati.blogspot.com/2009/10/fines-for-blogging.html
3. I don’t think I’ve made any changes, really. I do now have a review/disclosure policy. Oh, and I no longer link to Amazon. I link to LibraryThing. I wasn’t sure whether linking to Amazon made me an “endorser,” so I stopped.
4. I don’t know, actually. I personally think people should disclose if what they are reviewing was received for free, but I know a lot of bloggers who don’t do that. For instance, there is a food blogger who gives away tons of Le Creuset and KitchenAid stuff, but she always acts as though SHE is giving it away, not the companies, which is misleading.
1. I did have a review policy before the FTC guidelines came out, but I only disclosed where books came from in Mailbox Monday posts.
2. My reaction was that it was really intended for mommy bloggers and just kind of spilled over to other blogs. I did not post a reaction
3. Since the rulings, I add a line to my reviews stating where the book came from ONLY if I got it for free.
4. I’m not really sure on this one. Stating you got the book for free is fine, but for bloggers I trust, it doesn’t make a difference.
1. I didn’t have a review policy, but I did mention in my reviews if I got a book from the publisher to review.
2. Extremely annoyed, but I can kind of understand what they were trying to do. I didn’t post a response, except maybe on Twitter.
3. I’ve written a review policy and started putting where I got the book I’m reviewing from, even if it was a library or I bought it.
4. I think a blogger should say when something they’ve reviewed was provided by a publisher (or other company), and if they’re holding a contest that the company is providing the goods for. It’s not because I think people are being dishonest and saying they like something when they don’t, but we’ve all had that thought: that if we’re too harsh or too negative publishers won’t want to work with us anymore, so we cushion things a bit. We self-edit, I guess. And if I know someone’s gotten a thing from a company then I know to take their review with a grain of salt, especially if they’ve rated it 2/5 and only said positive things (because, c’mon. That makes NO SENSE). (People do this with books by authors that they’re friends with, too.)
Does that make sense? I hope I’m not coming off as a bitch. Seasoned bloggers tend to grow thicker skins and don’t worry as much if they offend a publisher who sent them something, but newbies could still fall into that trap. Yeah.
1. I had a review policy before the FTC guidelines, but it was (and still is) geared mostly toward what I will and won’t review, my timeline for reviews, responding to pitches, etc. I didn’t have a formal disclosure policy, but when I received books from publishers/publicists/authors, I thanked the person who sent the book at the end of my review.
2. Once I figured out that I didn’t need to make any major changes to my blog, I didn’t have much of a reaction. Did not post a reaction, though I did have fun tweeting about #heyftc
3. The only change I’ve made is that I now include a footer on each review to indicate when I received a galley or review copy of a book from a publisher, author, or publicist. But I still talk about books the same way I always have. I also continue to disclose when I have a personal relationship with the authors (but I’ve always done that).
4. I think it’s important for bloggers to disclose where their free books come from. I also think it’s important to disclose when we have personal relationships or friendships with authors, as those could potentially affect our feelings about a book (though I hope we can be objective enough to prevent that from happening). I’d like to know if bloggers were being paid to review specific books as well.
Kim,
I always had a review policy and as for disclosure I do not have a policy nor do I say in the review where I got a book. I put it in my “read in 2010 page” where the book came from and what format it was in.
I did get some good responses to a post about the new guidelines. Use anything you want from there. http://bookalicio.us/2009/10/how-do-you-plan-to-disclose-your-relationships/
I did have a disclosure policy before those rules were posted, and I still use it and have not had to make any changes.
I think that, for the most part, the rule was well-intentioned, but there needs to be a distinction between “professional” bloggers and “amateur” bloggers. I write my blog for my own enjoyment and to reach out to people; while I occasionally receive free books to review, I do not get paid for my time, and providing me with a book does not guarantee a favorable review.
Definitely if someone receives some sort of significant item or gift, like a $50 bookshelf in return for reviewing the bookshelf, or a giftcard to Red Lobster to casually mention it, that needs to be disclosed, but otherwise, I don’t think it’s a huge issue. I mean, if Perez Hilton is getting paid to blog about some club he goes to, it needs to be disclosed, but most bloggers are casual.
I’d love to read the paper when it is finished.
1. I did have a review policy that I’d written a while before the FTC guidelines came out, primarily to so that I could have somewhere to say “I don’t accept e-books.” I didn’t have a disclosure policy per se, but I made a point of always mentioning that I’d got a book from the publishers (usually by thanking them.)
2. I worried for about three seconds before I realized that I don’t do big enough “business” (nor do most other book bloggers, I think) for the FTC to bother about it.
3. I’ve added a line for “Where did I get this book?” for every post, so that I’m disclosing even when I don’t need to.
4. I like knowing whether a book blogger got a book for free, especially if it came directly from the author. I think as much as we want to believe we’re always being 100% honest, I think there’s still a tendency to self-edit when we know there’s a bigger risk of hurt feelings. Otherwise, I think bigger things than a review copy of a book should definitely be disclosed.
1. Before the FTC disclosure guidelines were published, did you have a review or disclosure policy for your blog?
I didn’t publish my policy, but I definitely had a personal policy. If I was discussing a book that I’d been sent to review, I always mentioned that in the post.
2. What was your reaction when you heard about the FTC disclosure guidelines? Did you post this response (and could you share a link)?
Honestly, it didn’t bother me at all.
3. Since the FTC guidelines took effect, what changes have you made to your blog or the way you write about books?
Since I already said when I had received a book for free, I haven’t made any changes.
4. What types of relationships do you feel bloggers are ethically obligated to disclose (ie ignoring the FTC requirements)?
To me, if a blogger received something for free in exchange for talking about it on her blog, she should tell her readers. Also, if she has a personal relationship with whoever’s creating the product (in book blogging cases, usually the author), that should be disclosed. Oh, and giveaway/competitions sponsored by someone other than the blogger should be clearly marked.
1. Before the FTC disclosure guidelines were published, did you have a review or disclosure policy for your blog?
I did have a policy about what I would or wouldn’t read, but not a disclosure policy per say for my book blog.
2. What was your reaction when you heard about the FTC disclosure guidelines? Did you post this response (and could you share a link)?
I didn’t really have a reaction other than to post a policy to cover my rear end. It seemed sort of silly, how it applies to blogs. I mean, I knew when people were being given free stuff for their opinion. On my other blog, I did it all of the time and already told people that at the end of the product review. Therefore, it wasn’t that big of a deal for me to add an actual policy for my book blog.
3. Since the FTC guidelines took effect, what changes have you made to your blog or the way you write about books?
I have a one page disclosure policy and try to add a line to the end of reviews stating that I got it from a publisher or contest.
4. What types of relationships do you feel bloggers are ethically obligated to disclose (ie ignoring the FTC requirements)?
Blatant Honesty Here-You have to be pretty naive or be brand spanking new to the internet not to have discovered word of mouth advertising and what that implies. I have been doing product reviews, with the products provided free of charge, for years. Just like any other form of advertising, you have to have a personal trust with the source to make sure it is valid. For example, I have been reading your blog for a while and am starting to trust what you say and listen. There are some bloggers where I am no where near there yet or they read different genres than I do. I really feel that forcing bloggers to disclose it is overkill, but I don’t have a problem following them.
I have always given my honest opinion of books and products. That isn’t going to change.
before the new guidelines i had a general disclosure page linked in my footer now i disclose at the bottom of every post if i got or might get anything out of making the post.
Before the FTC disclosure guidelines were published, did you have a review or disclosure policy for your blog?
I had (and still have) a snarkily written review policy, which is why I receive very few copies for review (maybe 5 a year). And I like it that way. I don’t want the pressure from authors or publishers, and I tend to ignore pitches.
What was your reaction when you heard about the FTC disclosure guidelines? Did you post this response (and could you share a link)?
I thought, “Oh good grief, what a pain in the butt.” (or something to that effect). No, I didn’t post about it. Because I receive very few copies for review, though, I was a bit irritated by the whole thing.
Since the FTC guidelines took effect, what changes have you made to your blog or the way you write about books?
I almost always (every once in awhile I forget) state in my post if I bought the book, checked it out from the library, or received it from an author/publisher. If it’s the last though, I always remember. Really though, I’m at about 99% disclosure. Someone usually reminds me if I forget, because I try to make the disclosures entertaining. So I’m trying to disclose with style. 😀
What types of relationships do you feel bloggers are ethically obligated to disclose (ie ignoring the FTC requirements)?
Specific to book bloggers? I like to know when a review is part of a blog tour. Otherwise? I honestly don’t care. I trust the bloggers in my Google Reader, and if they say they loved a book, I know it’s not because they said that to get a free book. Also, I don’t read blogs that are all positive reviews, so I’m confident I’m usually getting the truth from a blogger.
Not sure if that helped, but there ya go.
1. Before the FTC disclosure guidelines were published, did you have a review or disclosure policy for your blog?
I didn’t have a formal review policy until the early discussions about the guidelines, before they officially went into effect. I’ve always included a thank-you in any reviews of books I didn’t buy myself, and my membership in the BlogHer Ad Network, which has its own disclosure requirements and review policies (for slightly different reasons), pre-dates the FTC guidelines.
2. What was your reaction when you heard about the FTC disclosure guidelines? Did you post this response (and could you share a link)?
I posted a two-part discussion in response to the guidelines and signing the Blog With Integrity pledge:
http://www.3rsblog.com/2009/08/blogging-with-integrity-part-one-pledge.html
http://www.3rsblog.com/2009/08/blogging-with-integrity-part-two-what.html
3. Since the FTC guidelines took effect, what changes have you made to your blog or the way you write about books?
I include a formal disclosure of the source of every book and my affiliate relationship with Amazon.com in the header of every book review post – but aside from that, I really don’t think I’ve changed my blogging all that much.
4. What types of relationships do you feel bloggers are ethically obligated to disclose (ie ignoring the FTC requirements)?
I think bloggers should acknowledge the source of every item they accept for review, just out of courtesy. I think they should disclose if a post is sponsored or they have a relationship – business or personal – with the person or company behind the subject of the post, whether it’s a formal review or not.
1. I had a disclosure policy. Have had one since I first accepted a review copy. I always disclose. Earlier last year I had also added a policy that I donate the equivalent cost of a review copy to charity. These were in place before the FTC brouhaha.
2. I did not post a response on my blog, but I did get involved in a fair number of twitter conversations regarding it. And I’d been pretty vocal about review copies prior to the FTC thing, leaving comments on a number blogs. I’ve been super-critical of the independence-eroding review copy mania since summer 2008. I didn’t post a response because I’d said everything I needed to say well before the FTC said anything.
3. None.
4. Contrary to what someone might think because of my answers to #1 and #2, I don’t think bloggers are ethically required to do anything. At least personal bloggers aren’t. Virtual blog tours and review copies and guest posts and other promotional crap degrade a blogger’s independence, but it’s their independence to do with what they will. As a blog reader, I prefer independent blogs, but they don’t owe that independence to me. If they don’t care about me reading them, that’s their business. We didn’t have a contract, and I’m loathe to write an implied contract into anything.
I’m in the UK so the FTC disclosure policy does not apply to me so to avoid skewing your results I’ll just answer the last question. Ethically I should hope that any blogger who has a real life personal connection with an author or a publishing house will disclose it (for example, we all know dovegreyreader is affiliated with Long Barn Books because she talks about it a lot). I’m personally not fussed if someone doesn’t disclose that they got a copy for review as long as they give an honest review (I would mention it because I’d be thanking the author who sent it to me). Disclosure means we are in theory aware of possible bias, but since every blogger follows up ‘got this for review’ with ‘has not changed my opinion’ you’d have to be a right cynic to continue to hold the idea of possible bias in your mind.
One thing I’d like to note. When I received my first two review copies from authors (so far I’ve recived four in total) I made a point of saying I hoped they were ok with a totally honest review. Now neither of them were outraged by me pointing this out (as a safeguard measure, because I’ve seen bloggers get burned by people who think free book = positive review) I could tell they were a bit uncomfortable with me mentioning it, as if I was questioning their ethics. So I do wonder if I should highlight somewhere on the site that a free book does not result in preferential treatment to cover myself, but avoid having to confront authors.
1. No I didn’t.
2. I didn’t post a response and I don’t think I had much of a reaction as it doesn’t cover me.
3. I do have a note in my sidebar stating that I am an affiliate with BookDepository and that almost all the books I review have been purchased by me, given as gifts or borrowed. I have yet to receive anything from my affiliation. I have only ever accepted one review copy and I stated at the end of that review that I had been given a free galley (that’s what it was). I am not covered by the FTC rules as I am not in the US but I think it is only fair to tell people that I had a free copy.
4. I don’t think anyone is obliged to disclose anything, but I do prefer it when they do. I don’t like reading what is essentially an advert unless you really liked/used the book/product/whatever.
1. No, no policy.
2. I think it was before the FTC guidelines took effect that I signed the Blog with Integrity pledge, so I didn’t have much of a reaction. I’ve continually said that reviewing books we get for free can make us kind of like the old-time doctors who also sold medicines.
3. No changes.
4. Any relationships. Bloggers should be more transparent about everything. More personal writing would liven up a lot of blogs I see.
1. Yes
2. I think the world of mommy blogging very much needed FTC disclosure guidelines – these are often big ticket items we’re talking about – but it does seem like overkill for book blogging. I did not post a response.
3. Since I live in Germany, I’m not sure I technically have to do anything, but I do have posts every 20 reviews where I disclose where I got my books. I link to these in my sidebar under FTC Disclosure.
4. I’d say ethically, any single item valued above say $30 should be disclosed. As it takes TIME to write a book review, I am not going to waste it praising a book I didn’t like.
Great questions!
1. I had a review policy, but not a formal disclosure policy…although it is clear to my readers that I accept books for review from publishers, publicists and authors. Also, I was very upfront about where books were coming from as I do a regular Mailbox Monday where I tell readers what books arrived at my house and where they come from. I also have a link from my blog to Library Thing where review books are tagged as such. So although I didn’t have a formal disclosure policy, I was not hiding anything from readers who cared to find out where the books came from.
2. Yup, I wrote about it here.
3. How I review books has not changed at all – I have always written honestly about how I feel about a book regardless of where the book came from…The only change I’ve made is that now I have a one sentence disclosure and a little icon at the end of reviews for books which came to me specifically for review. AND I posted a disclosure policy as part of my review policy.
4. I think nowadays readers of book blogs can mostly assume that some of the books being reviewed are coming from publishers, publicists or authors. It seems silly to me to have to reveal sources because we are considered media now – and do print reviewers have to review all their sources? No – because readers of print reviews know the reviewer gets books for review. That said, I don’t think we should hide our connections – posting that one gets books for review on their review policy SHOULD cover all the bases, in my opinion.