Can you trust 'content creators'?

Some thoughts as an independent food and drink writer

There has been a lot of huffing and puffing about influencers, food writing, and honesty lately. I have seen several posts and articles with people who write about food and drink lambasting ‘content creators’ and suggesting they are largely disingenuous.

I’ve seen some hypocrisy, too.

I am not immune to either. We’re all human and doing our best, aren’t we? But I thought I would explore the complexities of it all.

TL;DR? Bullet points preferred?

Here’s an overview of my policy:

Ready for a deep dive? Then read on…

The world of food and drink content has blown up over the past decade. Lots of people are doing it. Some well. Some not so well. Some people know their stuff. Some are quite obviously dazzled by the promise of free food and drink and don’t have much background knowledge, nor desire to be any kind of expert.

There are big personalities that attract a lot of love, and a lot of quite nasty and personal public hate. I’m not into that. People on the internet can be hideously cruel.

Who gets to be a restaurant critic?

There are no qualifications, no direct path to becoming a restaurant critic.

When I started as a food and drink writer in 2018, I was quickly given the job of restaurant critic as part of my wider duties. I was brand new to it (everyone starts somewhere), but I had a wealth of life experience, a talent for writing, and a deep passion for all things culinary. I was coached in the role by experienced writers and Editors. I took my responsibility as a critic seriously and tried to instil this into my team of writers when I later became an Editor myself.

Being a restaurant critic is a unique job. There is more to it than just ‘rating’ something as good or bad. It’s a form of analysis. What’s the story behind this restaurant, cuisine or chef? What makes it interesting - or not? What is the context of the place in a local and global sense? How does it compare to others in its sphere? What’s the price point? Is it fair? Why should anyone spend their limited funds there? You are writing for your readers who may only go out to eat a handful of times a year.

You are also telling a story. Listing what you ate and saying it was delicious is not very interesting. People have to want to read it for its entertainment value. It helps if you can be funny without being cruel or punching down. Marina O’Loughlin, for me, is a master at this.

You need to know what you are comparing things to and understand the broader landscape. Not just what’s going on in the region you are writing in, but in other places around the country, around the world. Some of this you can learn by reading, but first-hand experience is priceless.

This is where I want to make a point to counter the much-touted opinion that you must have paid in full for all of your meals to be justified in writing (or filming) an honest, unbiased account of it.

It stinks of privilege.

The privilege issue with food writing and content creation

Eating out at restaurants regularly enough to gain authoritative experience and fuel consistent writing or video content costs an awful lot of money.

If you’re lucky, the company you work for will give you the tools to gain more experience as a food writer. My first employer gave me (and later, my team) an expense account so we could eat out and write about all kinds of places, not just those with PR teams. A staff writer’s wage alone doesn’t allow for this kind of spending in 2025.

A disproportionate number of national critics have come at it from positions of privilege. The privilege to benefit from a top-end education, family or wealth-adjacent connections. To afford to eat out and gain the confidence to criticise and comment on the whole pantomime of fine dining. Often, when they dip their toe into writing about more ‘humble’ establishments, the cringeometer breaks.

Working-class writers and people from marginalised backgrounds rarely get a look-in. Vittles is a shining exception. In the non-food world, I am a fan of Polyester for raising the voices of (and paying) women, young people, people of colour and those from LGBTQ+ backgrounds. There is so much more work to do.

How do you afford to eat out all the time?

If you are a freelance journalist or content creator from a non-privileged background, it’s almost impossible to self-fund everything you eat and drink.

I was recently invited to a press launch with many other journalists. At press launches, you often get to try everything on the menu, but you don’t get the same experience as a normal punter would.

A few weeks later, I returned to the restaurant on my own dollar to treat my mum. The meal for two with drinks (including cocktails, a bottle of wine and a tip) cost me almost £200. I did not, contrary to popular belief, get special treatment because I am a food writer, and rightly so.

To earn £200 a month from this Substack, I would need 57 monthly paid subscribers. This would cover the cost of a meal like that, but not my time spent crafting a balanced and interesting article about it.

Journalists like me are paid to write for the national and international press. But earning a basic income as a freelance journalist requires a huge number of commissions each year, and that simply doesn’t happen for many writers. Many national newspapers and online mags don’t cover any expenses if you write about food or travel, even though they require you to have authoritative, first-hand knowledge of the topic. The world of travel journalism is wild.

My knowledge and experience eating in the places I write about have come largely from my own pocket, but it’s a small pocket.

My small business Manchester Wine Tours helps keep me afloat. I live fairly frugally, but I spend as much of my own money as possible in local bars and restaurants so I can a) support them (times are extremely tough for hospo) and b) write about them.

I have never been paid for what I post on social media (so far).

@kel.is.eatingA lot of places don’t open on Monday, so it’s really helpful to have a list of good spots in Manchester that do. Here are just 10 of my favourites and if you wanna see a whole list of great restaurants open on a Monday in Manchester city centre, you can find it on my Substack. ##manchesterrestaurants##openmondays##keliseating

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Transparency in social media food and drink content

Onto social media. I recently had an email from the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) about their report into ad disclosure on Instagram and TikTok. It’s an interesting read, and there is a lot to unpick, not least that they used AI to monitor small influencer accounts.

One of the things outlined in this report is that a piece of content is considered to be an ad (and should be disclosed as such) if both of the following are true:

a) coverage is in return for payment, including gifts (e.g. a free meal)

and

b) there is an element of control from the brand over the content (coverage promised by agreement, brand approval required, deadlines to be met, etc)

They found that 57% of the content they analysed stuck to their rules on ad disclosure, 9% attempted to disclose but did it unclearly, and 34% didn’t disclose ads at all.

Earlier this year, I was invited on a day-long press trip to a restaurant in London because they were opening in Manchester. Everything was comped. How lovely. I was not paid for my time. The visit wasn’t in return for any commissioned journalism. I went because I genuinely wanted to know more about the brand.

I was, as always, sceptical. Who are these people bringing yet another London brand to Manchester? But I enjoyed the food, drink and hospitality. I could see its appeal.

I met the head chef and numerous people behind the restaurant. I asked journalistic questions and learned absolutely loads. The experience improved my understanding of Manchester’s future dining scene and how our city is viewed by London trendsetters.

I always take photos and film. It’s ingrained into me from years of working full-time in media. You never know when a picture or video clip could come in handy.

When I got home, I decided, off the cuff, to make a reel. I don’t do this very often. I see myself more as a writer, so my social media presence is sporadic. I didn’t think it would get 50,000 views on TikTok, but it did. That rarely happens for me. Nobody asked me to do it, nor did they have control over the footage. I wasn’t paid for it, but it increased interest in their Manchester opening.

Was this an ad or not? Humans could debate this if they didn’t know if any agreement had been made prior. So, how could an AI bot make a clear decision? One to ponder.

Influencers are so annoying, though, right?

‘Annoying’ influencers are low-hanging fruit. I have my criticisms of that overly enthusiastic sphere, too, but it’s a tangled web.

I get that things have gone a little haywire lately. It’s difficult to know which social media content creators (and writers) to trust. Which ones know what they are talking about? Which are simply gallivanting about, saying everything is “awesome” and “the best” in return for payment or even a free burger?

But I feel for young creators and writers who are currently being torn to shreds by all and sundry. It can’t be nice to have so many people being so personal and cruel about you. A lot of criticism comes from old-school writers. It can have an air of bitterness about it. ‘Proper’ journalism no longer pays very well for many people. Times are changing, and some people struggle with that.

Some influencers are fully aware of what they are doing and are paid a fair whack of money for it. Some are, perhaps naively, just having fun.

What people often forget or ignore when they are picking apart ‘content creators’ is that restaurants benefit greatly from people who are good at writing or making video content, sharing footage of their restaurants. Many restaurant owners are not skilled at this, nor do they have the time to do it.

Why I sometimes accept PR invites

I don’t contact restaurants and ask for free meals. I know some people do. In some cases, it’s part of the job, but on the whole, it doesn’t sit right with me. But I do accept invites sometimes. If I didn’t, I wouldn't have anywhere near as much first-hand experience of what’s happening in Manchester (and elsewhere). I wouldn’t be such a reliable and knowledgeable source. I probably couldn't keep doing this as I do now.

However, I don’t want to be PR led. I have a personal code of conduct that I make clear to PRs. I turn down multiple invites every month for various reasons (no time, not my cup of tea, already been there, too far out of my way, etc.), and I don’t currently promise coverage.

Quite often, PRs ask for guaranteed coverage. Even if you think that’s ok, it is not always possible to promise as a freelancer. Pitching stories is competitive.

Also, as I always point out, you don’t know until you visit a place if it’s actually any good. Good PRs understand this. They play the long game, knowing decent journalists will appropriately cover good things when the time comes, and sometimes the coverage doesn’t happen, for various reasons.

Others are unscrupulous. I have even been asked to write TripAdvisor reviews for places I’ve received invites to. My answer will always be no to anything like this, often with a strongly worded email response.

While many influencers and journalists aim to be balanced in their work, most of us need to accept some PR invites to gain knowledge, experience and authority. The relationship between PR and journalists is an important one.

Wrapping up

One more thing for the record. Virtually every big media company in Manchester makes much of its income from charging restaurants and bars for marketing via their channels through video and written content. They need to pay their staff somehow, and that is the way it is usually done.

Sometimes, this is clearly marked as advertorial or ads. Sometimes, it is thinly veiled. Often, it is blatantly paid content but is not declared at all. It makes it very difficult for them to remain impartial.

I prefer a paywall/paid subscriber method for my writing. I’m not in anybody’s pocket regarding what I write. I do my best to be unbiased and as straight with you as I can.

I have always and will always tell you if what I am writing about here has been comped via PR or directly from the restaurant. It’s up to you if you want to be sceptical about such things. But I never write about it if I don’t think it’s good.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this in the comments.