Our food columnist?s exposé of the ?Big Bad Blogger? has created quite a stir in the country?s blogosphere. Here?s her response:

THE piece ?Please Don?t Give Blogging A Bad Name? (Sunday Inquirer Magazine, January 23, 2010) received an overwhelming response. On the upside, we were flooded with ?thank you? e-mails, texts and calls from restaurateurs and bloggers alike who shared or had heard of or encountered similar experiences and were relieved that someone had finally spoken out about the practice of pressuring restaurateurs to pay for a good review. On the other hand, there were also demands to reveal the identity of the story?s participants. Some, in an effort to compel this writer, even resorted to name calling and personal attacks and intrigues against me. (Copy of the piece and e-mails to us re the article at margauxlicious.blogspot.com.)

To those whose curiosity as to the identity of the ?Big Bad Blogger??be it out of anger or outrage, the desire to condemn, the need to be defensive, or just plain curiosity?has caused them to miss the point, the objective of the exposé was only to reveal the existence of the practice not just of giving a good review for a fee, but posting a bad review to pressure payment out of the subject/s.

The column was also written using anonymous names specifically to protect the source of information (?Georgia?) from the risk of retaliation by the ?Big Bad Blogger? and ?The (PR) Firm.? Retaliation in this case can be in the form of negative comments on the web?Twitter, Facebook, the blogosphere?and in the form of badmouthing the restaurant to other possible diners.

All three (restaurateur, blogger and PR Firm) had to remain anonymous because a revelation of any one would have compromised the source (it?s a small world wide web) and could invite the dreaded retaliation. As a result, I am paying for this anonymity by taking the blow of negative comments and personal attacks. I can take it because I am confident enough in my integrity and professionalism, and in the basis and merits of the exposé. But the restaurateur source cannot because the negative comments translate into loss of customers and, effectively, loss of revenue and income. Hence the need to respect Georgia?s request.

The anonymity also served the purpose of keeping Big Bad Blogger and The PR Firm from being humiliated and ostracized because their personalities are beside the point. (As was proven by the flood of responses from restaurateurs sharing similar experiences, while the story is specific to Georgia, the practice is not isolated to Big Bad Blogger alone.) Seeing the rage that followed publication of my column, the identification of BBB and The Firm would have, without a doubt, caused them to lose their sources of income as well. The intention of the exposé was only for them?and others who are like-minded?to stop the controversial practice, not to end their means of livelihood.

?The piece was also by no means an attack on the blogging community.? (I don?t even know where that came from; the reactor probably did not read the article well.) On the note that this abuse is also practiced by traditional media?sure it is. Those who practice it are called ?hao-siao? reporters?don?t know how that term came about?and are regarded (or rather disregarded) accordingly. But that?s old news. Bloggers, on the other hand, have always been regarded as unpaid civilians, not necessarily writers, who speak from the heart and are revered for honest-to-goodness reviews. Hence the shockwaves with the idea of a ?paid? blogger.

In fact, this specific paragraph sought to establish my reverence for the food bloggers: ?Food bloggers, especially, were revered as reliable sources because they were perceived to be independent of any influence, paying for their own meals and untouched by PR firms. Certain bloggers, like the Marketman (www.marketmanila.com) or Lori Baltazar (www.dessertcomesfirst. com) have worked hard to maintain this integrity.? If anything, the article sought to restore the integrity of the food blogosphere that had been damaged by the likes of the Big Bad Blogger.

I have always appreciated bloggers and even started my own blog in 2006. I have also always written positively about food bloggers. (Recall ?Amazing Food Journeys at a Click? http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/ sim/sim/view/20080817-155153/ Amazing-Food-Journeys-at-a-Click). But just like calling out bad food at a restaurant, I had to write about this practice which left a bad taste in the mouth.

Thank you to those who recognized the point of the story and appreciated it for its worth.