Illustration: Nathan Huang

When it comes to critics in print, rest assured that most publications have governing guidelines to ensure journalists aren’t abusing their positions by accepting free gifts or special treatment. At The New York Times, for example, Craig Whitney—the assistant managing editor in charge of standards (yes, they have a whole job for that)—keeps a tight hold on the Gray Lady’s gadflies and enforces a strict code of ethics.

For critic-bloggers, however, things are less clear. “How does anybody know who to trust?” asks Aaron Riccio, editor of That Sounds Cool. His advice: Use your head. “You can search through the archive—the more posts, the higher the author’s credibility—or Google the author/site—that’ll tell you who is linking to them,” he says. “Or better still, you could just use your own judgment, because the truth is, short of a few sites that operate as extensions of the PR department, critics—online and off—have high standards, and their clear, precise language should be a dead giveaway of what’s full of truthiness and what isn’t.”

Phil Hall, contributing editor for Film Threat (filmthreat.com) and member of the Online Film Critics Society, says that “there is a single ethical standard here: professionalism, from both sides of the equation. Journalists who use junkets or press screenings as freeloading holidays will be shooed away from future events. Likewise, studio representatives who muck up their responsibilities will gain a negative reputation among the media, and that will reflect badly on the films they are promoting.”

The industry standard for film, theater and dance reviews is that all reviewers and critics (and prominent bloggers) receive tickets to press screenings or previews. But what about all the cool crap that arrives in newspaper and magazine offices on a daily basis? Journos receive everything from whole baked hams to Nintendo Wiis, often without even asking for them.

Books are the grayest of the gray: People take them, sell them, give them away, keep them. One book-selling source who wishes to remain anonymous says that when he worked at the Voice, “There were tons of books. And everybody took their copies to the Strand. Everyone,” he says. “Not just the Voice—people from The New Yorker, The New York Times.”

Another insider, a lifestyle and culture editor, says, “Everyone talks big about donating stuff to charity, but when a free box of chocolate lands on your desk, you suddenly feel it’s your God-given right.” (Even the Times leaves room for chocolate…and coffee mugs, if they’re worth $25 or less.)

But, says the aforementioned editor-chocoholic, the free stuff “makes me less likely to feature them, out of guilt, because I’d feel like their stuff worked. And in theory, I’m still anti–promo crap.” She pauses. “Just…not in practice.”