Message: | I once edited a cheesy little weekly newspaper (long gone; not worth identifying, as nobody read it anyway). One day, the publisher came in, all excited, telling me that we were going to run a restaurant column.
OK, sez I, not having much choice. The reviews came in, and they weren't illiterate, sounded authentic, and were of places I'd never been.
Turns out the "reviewer" was a local restaurant publicist, writing under a pseudonym, and the resturants were (no surprise if you've come this far) ones the publisher hoped would advertise, even though they had little in common with the paper's target demographic.
When I found out, I mentioned "ethics," but the publisher was one of those whose knowledge of the "E" section of the dictionary didn't extend past "ether." None of the restaurants advertised; the column was soon dropped for reasons the publisher understood: no quid pro quo; no positive cash flow.
Incidentally, if something's "ready" enough that customers are charged for it, it's "ready" to be reviewed. Not to "scoop" the other reviewers, but to guide the reviewer's readers. If said reviewer wants to come back later for a second assessment, or if the owner is selling meals to the public at a reduced "preview" price, that's another matter.
Generally, it's a while before a reviewer finds time to review a place in the first couple of weeks, so the whole matter is sort of academic. |