I can't believe I ate the whole thing
John Batchelor, our restaurant reviewer extraordinaire and a destination columnist, is scheduled to appear on The Good Morning Show tomorrow morning. No idea what time between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m.
I use the word "appear" lightly. The interview was taped, but John is incognito thanks to the lighting. John prefers anonymity so that he doesn't get special treatment when he visits restaurants for his reviews. (I wouldn't know him if he walked past me on the street.)
Anyway, he's apparently been selected as part of a "cool jobs" segment. Reviewing restaurants is certainly a cool job, but it's not how he makes a living. But I don't suppose that matters on TV.
Monday update: The "cool jobs" segment ran this morning. John was excellent for his 30 seconds of fame. Oddly -- at least oddly to this journalist -- they neglected to say who Batchelor reviewed restaurants for. He was simply described as a "restaurant critic." The other "cool jobs?" Personal shopper and, surprise, surprise, a Good Morning Show news anchor!!!
Comments (9)
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Mr. Robinson, why does your paper allow letters to the editor critical of the current Adminstration to be published without first checking the letters for factual truth?
A letter in today's issue which is titled: "Rice doesn't deserve Davenport's praise" claims that "Condolezza Rice opposed the Civil Rights Movement"
Does the NR not have the resources to check the validity of that statement? Or does the Bush bashing adgenda of the NR staff take precident over facts?
Posted on November 21, 2005 6:10 AM
So far as I know, Dr. Rice has not opposed the civil rights movement. The criticism she has received in that regard has been due to her alleged lack of sensitivity to, and appreciation of, that struggle. We should have edited that letter to reflect that. You are right, Hugh. We should have caught it.
Posted on November 21, 2005 9:23 AM
Caught JB on the GMS. Pretty cool. Give him a raise so he can make a living at it.
Posted on November 21, 2005 9:34 AM
Thank-you, Allen.
Posted on November 21, 2005 9:44 AM
Allen,
Following up with hugh's question...Is it part of the editorial editor's job to fact-check Letters to the Editor? What would you do if you found something incorrect, edit their letter? It seems the most you could do would be to put a statement after the letter with the correct info.
Posted on November 21, 2005 10:32 AM
And,
Sorry, John for hijacking your blog on this issue. hugh posted his question to Allen here, and I'm just following up.
Posted on November 21, 2005 11:10 AM
Doug, we have done both in the past, depending on the situation. We tend to run editor's notes when there are common misconceptions repeated in a letter ... for instance, letter writers who assumed that the downtown baseball stadium was financed by taxpayers.
We do fact-check letters where we see obvious errors in fact. Many letters are not published for this reason.
But we don't catch them all.
Posted on November 21, 2005 12:19 PM
Allen, last comment on this:
Will the NR print a notice of correction in the letters to the editor tomorrow?
I also apologize for hijacking the blog, especially to J.B. He's always fair and right on the money with his reviews.
Posted on November 21, 2005 1:18 PM
There will be a correction, yes, as soon as we are able to reach the writer of the letter. Our protocol is to call them first.
Posted on November 21, 2005 1:22 PM