What’s a Travel Blogger To Do?

by Donna Hull on 2009/11/10

Apologies in advance to my baby boomer readers. Sorry for deviating from My Itchy Travel Feet’s mission to provide you with information about active travel for baby boomers, mostly through my reports of personal travel experiences.

What’s Up? A social media storm is raging about a group of travel bloggers who are also active on Twitter. They were invited by Princess Cruises to experience life on a Crown Princess cruise, the first ever Twitter Press Trip. (Aside to uninformed baby boomer readers, Twitter is an online social networking program where participants write about topics in very short sentences using no more than 140 characters per entry. It’s usually done via texting on cell phones or from a computer.)

Now, I didn’t see the invitation, but I’m assuming that, in return for the free cruise, bloggers were obligated to write and tweet about their cruise experience, good or bad. This is no different than the expectation for travel writers and bloggers who attend any other free press trip. For many, it’s the only way that they can afford to research travel locations for print articles and blog posts. Now come on, you didn’t really think that all those travel articles in magazines and newspapers involved trips that were paid for by the writers, did you?

Unfortunately, things got ugly on Twitter this weekend when a group of bloggers turned the Twitter cruise conversation (#FollowMeAtSea) into a blast against the environmental evils of cruising. Trip participants were criticized for reporting about the fun that they were having instead of conducting investigations about the environmental damage caused by the cruise industry.

Now wait a minute. These bloggers were invited to tweet and blog about their cruise experience. Many of them are discovering that cruising is fun. Shouldn’t they be telling their readers about it? Is that so wrong? In the process, they’ve also been mentioning things they don’t like about the cruise. And, they were given a 5+ hour tour behind the scenes that included a detailed description of the ship’s environmental practices. Even that hasn’t satisfied their critics.

Here’s my long-winded point. These bloggers have only one obligation—to report truthfully to their readers while following the mission of their blog. Some of the participants are listed below. In looking at their blogs, I don’t see a single “environmental” blog in the group. So, why should the purpose of their trip be to uncover environmental damage committed by cruise ships? A few of the participants did take the cruise with environmental questions in mind. They’ve asked them and reported back on Twitter.

Check out some of the bloggers. Go read their posts about the cruise. Decide for yourself if they are performing their job honestly and ethically.

Simone di Santi’s A Road Retraveled: Reports on all types of travel
Kim Mance and The Galavanting Gals: Inspires women to travel
Nancy D. Brown’s What a Trip: Reports on all types of travel
Gary Arndt’s Everything Everywhere: Blogs about traveling around the world
Expert Cruiser Anita Dunham-Potter: Blogs and writes about cruise travel
Cheri Lucas: Writes and blogs about travel
Johnny Jet: Covers travel deals, travel tips, destinations and more
Bret Rounsaville AmTrekker: Blogs about adventure
Cruise Critic: Writes about the cruise industry offering advice for cruisers
BrilliantTips from Brilliant Trips: Blogs about smart travel trends and tips
Shannon Lane’s Travel Tips and Deals: Writes and blogs about travel

Not everyone agrees with me. You can read a dissenting opinion by Julie Schwietert at Matador Travel. In addition, Pam Mandel has written a thoughtful analysis of the situation at Blog Her.

Returning to regular programming. Next post, I’ll be writing about my own travel experiences again. But this topic has raised many questions about cruising as I’ve read misinformed comments about cruising and the environment, crowded ports and the plight of cruise workers. I’ll be addressing these topics in the next few months. But, I promise, they will be written with you, the active baby boomer traveler, in mind.

Care to comment? I welcome ALL opinions as long as they’re written with respect. But please stick to the topic. Save the environmental discussion for when I write about it. This post is about what the bloggers should be reporting from their cruise. Be Warned. This is a Nice Zone. My rules: no personal attacks, no questionable language (the word is “human waste” not “poop”), no flaming. I’ll edit or delete ugly comments quicker than you can say, “Kiss my grits.” As my mother said when I was growing up, “You’re living in My World and it’s not a democracy.” Now, back to regular programming at My Itchy Travel Feet.

Share and Enjoy:

Tagged as: Baby boomer travel, baby boomers, blogging ethics, cruise, environment, press trip, Princess, travel, travel bloggers, Twitter

Janice

Hi,

I like your blog and I like your analysis of the situation. I was traveling on "digital detox" trip when the the kerfuffle happened so I only heard about it second hand at the World Travel Market and related tweet-ups last week. First, I think that transparency is important. If a trip is sponsored the sponsor should be recognized. Second, a blogger should stay on topic. If a blogger tends to go into issues such as the environment then yes, I would expect him or her to address this about the cruise as well. But a blogger who doesn't has no responsibility to do so.

Janice

Hi,

I like your blog and I like your analysis of the situation. I was traveling on "digital detox" trip when the the kerfuffle happened so I only heard about it second hand at the World Travel Market and related tweet-ups last week. First, I think that transparency is important. If a trip is sponsored the sponsor should be recognized. Second, a blogger should stay on topic. If a blogger tends to go into issues such as the environment then yes, I would expect him or her to address this about the cruise as well. But a blogger who doesn't has no responsibility to do so.

Anil

Most people who read various bloggers for sometime get an idea of who they are and how they might report something. The discussion went all over the place and didn't focus on the issues at hand which I think really hurt the points people were trying to make.

shannonlane

Donna - Thanks for linking to my blog adn writing this post. I don't focus on environmental issues, but do cover them when I'm a mind to. I appreciate your candid post and I did get a chance (as did the other writers/bloggers/tweeters) to speak with locals in the ports. I spoke to cab drivers and businesses that had no affiliation with Princess Cruises. The general theme is that while environmental issues are important to US, the local ports are more interested in how it affects their economies. Some destinations would be devastated should the cruise industry pull out of their ports.

And ya know what? I had the best time for once in my life, just laying around in the sun. I've been on too many trips with full itineraries and no down time. I even ate meat. Oh, the horror!

Seriously, though, we forget how much impact travel has on the world's economy. Environmental concerns are very important, but if we can't take care of the people alive today, how can we even begin to worry about future generations?

holeinthedonut

As usual, a very thoughtful, well presented review of the events and resultant firestorm. I'm sure we'll hear more on both subjects -- the environmental issue and the press trip issue.

alisab

Donna--I'm about as pro-environment as it gets (used to be very active in the Sierra Club), but I tend to agree with you here. How any blogger reports about any given experience is that blogger's business. It would only take one blogger out of the whole lot to bring attention to the green angle--and apparently one did. It doesn't mean there is anything wrong with the other bloggers who did not. I think it hurts over movement when we lose sight of the big picture and start backbiting and fighting amongst ourselves.

sheryl

I think these are separate issues, and I don't see a problem with tweeting about the cruise and not mentioning the environmental impact of it. If you want to include that, too, just as you include any other information, that's fine, in my opinion. But the beauty of travel writing is to report your own personal experiences, isn't it? If you were writing for an environmental group, or that was the focus of your reporting, then that would be different - but it's not.

Jennifer Margulis

This is such a tricky subject. I don't think we can censor these bloggers one way or the other. Yes, they are on a press trip. No, that does NOT mean they are paid spokespeople for the trip they are on. They have the right to remain independent thinkers and to Tweet how they wish, IMHO.

Stephanie - Wasabimon

Hrmmm, this is interesting. I'm baffled that Twitter is considered a journalistic outlet now. Seriously, what???

kerrydexter

Donna,
I think this post is quite in line with the mission of your blog. The environmental impact of travel, and how that is reported, is important to all.

I agree wihthyour assessment of the obligations of those who agreed to take this trip, and I also think -- though of course Twitter is a major part of this story -- that it's unfortunate that the stories they will tell couldn't unfold without instant comment, pro or con. But that's another kettle of fish...

thanks for the interesting discussion.

marthaandme

I have no beef with the bloggers at all. In fact, I believe my travel agent who is also a writer was on this trip!

caitlinfitzsimmons

I think the bloggers can write about whatever they want to write about. Personally I hope to see some discussion of the environmental aspects, but there's no 'should' about it. I don't think everyone has to write about the same things, draw the same conclusions, or write the same post. I love that travel blogging is so diverse.

Mary Jo

I agree with you, Caitlin.

I abhor the issues involved with the sex trade in Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand, but don't rush to criticize anyone who writes a piece about a lovely Thai beach. Both are legitimate story topics, and covering one does not diminish covering the other, nor do I think the two have to be covered in the same article.

I choose not to do business with certain companies whose labor practices I find appalling, but that doesn't make someone writing about the home town of one of those companies any less a quality writer because they don't cover my issue.

We shouldn't expect one travel writer to tell every story that we want to hear, and to tell it all in one story at that.

I care about the environment, and protect our natural resources. However, it is not at the top of my ethical travel list of issues. Just because I cover my top issue, as opposed to an environmental one, shouldn't make on whit of difference.

It seems to me there are a lot of legitimate positions on these issues, and I'm growing weary of the need for people to be "right".

pen4hire

And by the way, I don't think this post is a deviation from your mission at all. It provides useful information for Baby Boomer travelers.

pen4hire

Donna, while it is true that not all travel writers and their audience want to hear about environmental issues, I think that the information we present changes as the flow of information in general changes. Environmental practices have become a part of the evaluation of any venue--hotels, inns, campgrounds--as well as cruise ships. I'm not a cruiser, but because my awareness has been raised, and because hotels have been putting more effort into "green" practices, when I evaluate a hotel, I check things like whether they use low-flow toilets and energy-saving light bulbs, as well as how soft their linens are. Because Candy Harrington raised my awareness about easy access, I ask questions about availability of access.
True, not every reader is going to choose their vacation plans based on environmental concerns, (Not everybody cares about WIFI, either, but most travel writers report on it!) but a significent number have read the recent ranking of cruise ships on their environmental practices and will add that to the things they want to learn about.
So while we will not all become environmental writers, even general travel writers know that it is wise to keep up with trends and the latest news bulletins.
Thanks for jumping into the fray with this, Donna.

Donna Hull

Vera, you make some very good points. I'll certainly be looking at the environmental impact of ALL my travel experiences, noting them and reporting back when it's relevant to my article or blog post. I have issues with the methodology used in the ranking of cruise ships that you mentioned; but, that's another topic that I'll be addressing in a future blog post.

Thanks for stopping by and adding value to our conversation.

Carol

Some how...I figure all those doing the complaining are really upset because they didn't get a "free" invite.

www.wildlifearoundus.blogspot.com

Diana Rowe

Nicely done, Donna! You reported both sides w/o bias. I tend to agree with you though -- as long as the press trip participants are following the objectives of their blog (none of which are environmental), then why do they have get doused with saltwater?

Anne C

Personally I think it's ok to take a sponsored trip as long as you inform the reader that the article or review comes from a free trip.

Ann H.

I agree that, in the travel world, as in the meetings & event planning world, it's common for writers and travel planners to accept comp trips. That said, most (I daresay all) reputable publications do not accept articles from writers who did not themselves pay for the trip that they are writing about. Journalism, ethics, integrity, conflict of interest...

Donna Hull

Ann, you are right. Many (but not all) major publications do not accept articles from subsidized trips. Since I've never broken through that writing ceiling, I can't say for sure. But my writer friends who have, explain that it is a "don't ask, don't tell" policy for some of the reputable magazines and newspapers. Otherwise, it would only be well-to-do people who could write about far-flung destinations. Also, many publications send their own staff on the subsidized trips but don't disclose it. Or writers obtain next to nothing "media rates" so that they can tell the publication that they paid for their trip. It's an age old argument. Food writers receive free meals then write about it. It also happens in the sports writing and tech writing fields. Why should the ethics of travel writers be questioned more than other writers?

Caitlin

Sometimes publications have budgets and will fund the trip themselves. It's increasingly rare but it still happens. It's not always the case that the trip is funded either by the writer or hosted by PR.

Mary Jo

I think you've summed it up quite right, Donna, especially with the comment: "These bloggers have only one obligation—to report truthfully to their readers while following the mission of their blog."

When we all have to travel the same way, like the same things, care about the same issues in the same way, and write the same stories, there will be no need for any travel writers at all.

Viva la difference!

NancydBrown

Hi Donna,
Thanks for your post and linking to my What a Trip blog.
As you know, I am new to cruising and have approached the subject with an open mind and open eyes.

In case any of you missed it, I did write a post asking your thoughts regarding Cruise Ship Environmental Impact, http://bit.ly/r6MQk before I boarded the Crown Princess.

The PR folks at Princess Cruises responded to my questions by arranging an environmental "behind the scenes" tour during our press trip. Finally, I'm not about to stay in my cabin in the Western Caribbean writing blog posts when I could be out exploring.

Anne Campbell

As a writer covering the cruise industry I've been on lots of these trips and sailed several times with Princess. I rate ships one to five star plus and have always felt free to call a spade a spade. For example, if I don't think the food is up to par, I say it. It's critically important to be balanced. I've never felt the slightest pressure to say something positive or to say anything at all. Princess is too much a class act to use those tactics.

And there's a controversy about this?

Ladyexpat

I've been a bit absent from Twitter of late, but am trying to remedy that. I came into this entire debate/fight (whatever you want to call it) on Twitter somewhere in the middle. I am slowly catching on to what it's all about.
I know the environment and workers rights are important these days, and they should be. However, as you point out, none of the bloggers invited are owners or contributors to environmental blogs. This could be looked at in an entirely different light. By opening themselves up to Twitter isn't there the possibility that we will see improvements in the industry regarding both the environment and the treatment of workers?

To end it all..................I am just plain jealous. I would have loved an invite :)

Mark H

I am not across the debate but it strikes me that environmental questions are a legitimate part of the travel question and should be asked, along with many other aspects of cruising (quality of the food, activities, how bad weather is handled, locations visited ...). I suspect some of the bloggers will ask about the environmental impact and hopefully write them up over the next few days. Sadly, vitriolic commentary targetted at these guest bloggers reduce the chance of an informed and sensible exchange on the topic. Ironically, someone commenting is more likely to be targetted on their blog than someone who doesn't answer at all. At times, the armchair critics for various issues do more damage than good. Like most keen travellers, I have my set of standards and ethics when it comes to travelling but I certainly don't see how that gives me any right to stand in judgement of others and their choices and standards. Though not really for me, cruise liners (and their passengers) are a legitimate participant in the travel industry and should do its part in improving environmental impacts, but certainly should NOT bear the full brunt of any full frontal attack on the travel industry's efforts in this area.

...and all said with respect...

Donna Hull

Mark, thanks for your comments. And your respect is noted :-). Maybe this is a learning situation for all of us causing a closer look at the environmental effect resulting from our travels and the way we write about them.

Julie

Donna-

I don't disagree with you, and find it curious that you've interpreted my analysis of the press trip as at odds with your own. I didn't read any tweets from people who asked environmental questions criticizing the writers/bloggers for having fun, and I didn't either. A few of us, including myself, said we weren't particularly interested in reading tweets about cocktails, lavish dinners, and beaches, which are kind of boring, frankly. And no one that I'm aware of expected the bloggers to use the press trip solely as a fact finding mission to advance some sort of environmental argument. But considering that many travelers are concerned about their own environmental impact and that many of these bloggers have a considerable readership, I think the questions asked were legitimate, if (as I conceded in my post), poorly phrased and holier than thou in tone, and that the opportunity to inform that readership was ideal. Why would asking a few questions about the ship's environmental policies and practices be seen as raining on anyone's cruise-fun parade? If these writers had access to cruise officials, as I'm assuming they did, then it was the ideal opportunity to ask these questions.

Anne C

Julie...you make a very good point. As someone who covers the cruise industry I think the more scrutiny the press places on the cruise industry, the better. In the early 1990's there was no regulation or CDC inspections. Cruise ships dumped everything over the side of ships and no one cared. But this changed when a passenger aboard a Princess ship got video of crew dumping a big plastic bag of trash over the side of the ship. (My favorite commandment is #11: "Thou shall not get caught") The press ran with that and the cruise industry -- along with many other segments of society -- began cleaning up its act. Then in the late 1990's Royal Caribbean was find $20 million for polluting in Alaska; RCI's chairman had to apologize for the actions of its company.

So, the press keeps companies honest and I think they should continue to do so. Today cruise lines are obsessed with being as environmentally friendly as possible: they don't want the adverse publicity and/or fines. If you want to get deeper into this subject I suggest searching "cruise ship pollution, Alaska". This is the one region of the world where officials keep a close watch on pollution controls.

So yes, keep asking.

Donna Hull

Julie, perhaps "dissenting" was a poor choice of words by me. I should have said "different" because I do think our viewpoints take different slants. And, there's nothing wrong with that. However, I did read tweets criticizing the bloggers for reporting on their fun. While tweets about cocktails, lavish dinners and beaches might not interest you or me, they are important to someone who's trying to decide on which cruise line to take or if they want to take a cruise at all. The bloggers have to stay true to their readership.

Nothing's wrong with asking questions about the ship's environmental policies but, in my opinion, the discussion should not have overshadowed the entire conversation. The environmental discussion became relentless, rude and full of hysterical inaccuracies. Also, when this conversation occurred, the bloggers hadn't had their behind the scenes briefing. Maybe they hadn't had the opportunity to ask their environmental questions yet. I also think it's important to give the bloggers time. I'm sure many will come home to blog about the environmental impact of their cruise. It's not an easy topic to explain on Twitter.

In any event, I enjoyed reading your post. Thanks for stopping by to comment.