I’ve seen the tension between journalists and content creators first hand as someone who worked on the social team at a food media company. Part of my job was to help seasoned staff writers turn their work into a social media video in hopes it would become a viral hit. Many food writers begrudgingly recorded videos to appease their managers, who believed that pivoting to video was the key to reaching audiences looking to TikTok and Instagram influencers for their restaurant recommendations. Being told that an influencer is doing a better job than you doesn’t feel good.
That tension came up again when earlier this week, the James Beard Foundation announced on Instagram that it had a new media award category called Food Culture (Short-Form). According to a James Beard Foundation press release, this is one of two awards (the other being Cooking and Instructional) that are recognizing short-form content. These are an expansion of the retired Social Media category that’s been around since 2022. In the past, winners have included Alexis Nikole Nelson (@blackforager on Instagram), and Frankie Gaw (@littlefatboyfrankie on Instagram) who’ve become respected names in the food social media sphere and gone on to publish cookbooks and other extensions of their brand.
Of course the influencer hate flooded the comments on the James Beard Foundation post. A comment that received over 70 likes reads, “You must be kidding….. ‘influencer’ awards from James Beard?”. There are tons of similar comments expressing outrage that a prestigious institution would give food content creator an award. It implies that social media work is not of the same caliber of a production studio or video producer who makes longform content.
I beg to differ. Anyone who’s made a social media video knows that it’s not as easy as people make it seem. Since it is a shorter video, every second and every detail faces intense scrutiny because viewers will notice a minor mistake in a one-minute video as opposed to the same mistake showing up in a 30-minute video. I’ve seen commenters point out poor knife work or unmanicured nails. If they make it seem easy, then it’s because they’re doing a great job of focusing on the storytelling instead of the high production value, which I personally think is more important. As the chef motto goes, “Make every second count.”
The special thing with short-form video content is that it allows just about anyone with a camera phone to do that storytelling. Creators don’t need a production studio or media company to fund money and resources to a project. As long as they have a good eye for storytelling they can produce something great. This allows for new perspectives and underrepresented voices to have an opportunity to have their work speak for themselves.
At the same time, this also allows for the production of a lot of shitty influencer content, which gives food content creators a bad rap. How many times do we need to hear, “Come with me to try the best pizza in this city…” or “OMG, I just found the best sandwich ever”? It gets old and boring really fast. But what really irks journalists is that many influencers do not disclose if they got paid to write a glowing restaurant review. It’s no secret that influencers engage with pay-to-play business models. There are even some stories of influencers threatening that they’ll leave a restaurant bad review unless they’re paid. It’s these awful practices that fuels the hate of influencers.
But not all content creators are the same. In my previous social media job, I was charged with scouting and hiring creators for sponcon videos and noticed that there were also plenty that were producing quality work that were often passed over. They may not have been making videos that garnered millions of views, but they would gain tens of thousands of views. These get easily lost in the social media feed, because the algorithm favors the more entertaining content instead of meaningful content.
I remember hopping on a call with an incredibly talented content creator who was producing videos that showcased independent grocery stores that were often overlooked by the media. Plenty of editors were already fans of her work and she would have made a great brand fit. But unfortunately, I broke the news to her that we couldn't fund her project because it was not tied to a sponsorship. I wasn’t allowed to fund purely editorial work. If content didn’t drive views or bring us money through sponsorship, then it wouldn’t be approved. Sadly, many media companies don’t invest in short-form video journalism. Social media is still not widely respected as a journalism medium. The only advice I could give her is to contact her local tourism board to see if they can help fund her project.
So the question is: How can content creators fund their food journalism projects? How can they devote the time and resources to researching, editing, interviewing, traveling, and buying food and ingredients if they don’t have anyone to fund it. The only options are to (1) adopt a pay-to-play model, (2) flood their feeds with shitty sponsored CPG content, or (3) expand their brand to a cookbook, newsletter, or some other thing that’s not video. Add on top of this that there’s an influencer recession where only the ones at the top are getting the majority of the sponsorship deals. This is how we get stuck with shitty influencer content.
Well, one avenue to incentivize better quality content is through awards. The James Beard Award has the potential to spotlight the great journalism from more creators. So if you believe we need better food journalism, then expanding the award categories to include more short-form content is a good thing. However you feel about the James Beard Foundation, there’s no doubt that getting recognized by this institution puts a spotlight on emerging food journalists. And as more creator work gets highlighted, hopefully this will convince more media companies and non-profits to fund great short-form social media projects. Even though an award won’t solve the problems with the industry, it’s a small step in the right direction. Right now, in the world of AI slop, we need more quality voices in this space.
🐦⬛ Bird Droppings
- On Saturday, L.A. Taco announced on Instagram that journalist Memo Torres, known for his coverage of the ICE raids, was fired for allegedly repeating violations of policies and basic journalistic standards. According to L.A. Material, two unnamed sources claim that Torres had a romantic relationship with California State Sen. Sasha Renee Pérez while continuing to write about her and her legislation. Torres declined to comment on most of the allegations.
- In my home state of Michigan, Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed is making national headlines in a competitive campaign to win a critical U.S. senate seat that could signal a “Blue Wave.” He recently spoke to Bon Appétit about his go-to restaurants which includes Ricewood, a BBQ spot in my hometown of Ann Arbor. I endorse this rec.
- Free school lunches are disappearing because SNAP is undergoing deep budget cuts, no thanks to a Republican tax bill. There’s really no excuse for failing to feed kids.
- Jaya talks to the Verge about how the new Apple HomeView smart display is the latest threat to recipe developers. The HomeView strips down a recipe to just the instructions removing the introduction and descriptions from the page.
- Huge congratulations to She Wolf Workers Union in NY for ratifying their first-ever contract! Solidarity forever ✊
Raven Nickname of the Week
This week’s nickname comes to us from Yumwalla:
My nickname for the raven is ‘Wally Kawali’ - a play on the words Kaw as in kaw kaw the luxurious sound a raven makes and a Qawali: a beloved ancient powerful music style rooted in mysticism and poetry
You can’t beat a name with a rhyme.
Want to give our raven a silly little name? You have to become a Regular. Do you want to know the raven's real name? Only Big Spenders have access to that truth.
