550464 Wed Aug 20 12:56:28 -0700 2008 18 33 Food Media and News 0 3972778 On August 15, somebody posted on the SF board a second-hand story that Zuni Cafe was selling a single nectarine for $8. By the time someone from the restaurant posted that they actually charge $4,50, the "$8 nectarine" story had been picked up by around 200 food blogs. Wed Aug 20 12:56:30 -0700 2008 11369 Robert Lauriston 1 3972874 The power (or not) of the Internet? Wed Aug 20 13:21:10 -0700 2008 3972778 10532 LindaWhit 1 3973072 It was also reported in today's Chronicle, Leah Garchik's column in the datebook. Wed Aug 20 14:23:44 -0700 2008 3972778 12456 Euonymous 2 3973191 So much for the theory that blogs don't fact check, but traditional news media does. Wed Aug 20 14:59:14 -0700 2008 3973072 10922 Fig Newton 3 3973227 if you read the article, it mentions the actual diners by name, which the post on CH did not, so I would guess that Garchik did verify what they actually paid with the diners directly (though of course, as Zuni notes in the original post, they may have been mischarged. or could be mistaken). But then again, Garchik is an entertainment columnist, not a food columnist...(it appears that the reason it made the column is that the diners were filmakers). http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/garchik/ Wed Aug 20 15:06:44 -0700 2008 3973191 10158 susancinsf 3 3973669 Garchik's a gossip columnist. No tradition of fact-checking in gossip columns. Wed Aug 20 17:51:40 -0700 2008 3973191 11369 Robert Lauriston 1 3973120 Kind of shocking to see that this appeared in the SF Chronicle without any attempt to substantiate the $8 price tag. I mean, sure, it's Leah Garchik, but how irresponsible is that? I fall into the camp that still thinks there is a problem with a $4.50 nectarine (Robert feels differently), but still, some accuracy would go a long way here. Wed Aug 20 14:38:29 -0700 2008 3972778 17737 Hunicsz 1 3973961 it's the modern-day version of "telephone." by the time the story makes its way down to the end of the communication line, the 10-pound mackerel some guy caught on his fishing trip has morphed into a 100-pound shark that jumped onto the deck of the boat & almost bit his leg off. Wed Aug 20 20:10:41 -0700 2008 3972778 103920 goodhealthgourmet 2 3974125 Not really. People just copy and paste, so the same imaginary $8 nectarine showed up on hundreds of lazy bloggers' blogs. Wed Aug 20 21:22:55 -0700 2008 3973961 11369 Robert Lauriston 3 3976613 i guess i was assuming the "telephone" phenomenon was responsible for inflating the price from the actual $4.50 charge to the purported $8.00. either way, these bloggers need to start conducting their due diligence! Thu Aug 21 16:46:36 -0700 2008 3974125 103920 goodhealthgourmet 4 3977615 Bloggers have no obligation to do any due diligence. Blogs are nothing more than journals. I don't expect any more or less from a blog than I do from a journal entry of a 14 year old in her own personal diary. Fri Aug 22 05:33:22 -0700 2008 3976613 10195 KTinNYC 4 3978227 The original Chowhound post said $8. Fri Aug 22 09:15:43 -0700 2008 3976613 11369 Robert Lauriston 1 3974214 No, no, no... You all have it all wrong. It was an 8-pound nectarine that ate Zuni Cafe! Wed Aug 20 22:38:09 -0700 2008 3972778 10855 nosh 2 3978075 ha! good one! Fri Aug 22 08:28:28 -0700 2008 3974214 186887 toutefrite 1 3975618 If I might ask, Robert--what's the source of your around 200 food blogs statistic? *Imagining Robert personally visiting every food blog in the blogosphere and painstakingly tallying the mentions of $8 nectarines* It's a fascinating statistic, really. I've certainly made my share of mistakes (on the web and in life) so I'll try not to throw stones, but I am often surprised by people's reluctance to call a restaurant to check facts or ask a basic question. We recently had a food media personality (of the kind who presumably gets paid for his work) report in his blog that a local restaurant had "supposedly shuttered" its doors. Now, granted, he included the word "supposedly" to imply that he didn't know for sure that the place had gone under, but, I wonder why he didn't just pick up the phone and call the restaurant to find out whether or not they were really no longer in business? Similar to Leah Garchik, this person's blog is oriented towards gossip and entertainment (specifically food related, in his case) rather than serious criticism or reporting, but, still, why couldn't he have called the restaurant just to confirm? The restaurant in question, according to its website, is open 7 days a week until 11pm, opening at 11am on weekdays and 10am on weekends. He really couldn't find the time to call them? Perhaps he did and they didn't answer the phone? Maybe he has some kind of smoking gun that would indicate that their closure is imminent that he didn't share with us in his blog? I don't know, but when I called the restaurant and asked if they were still in business, the gentleman who answered the phone was pretty puzzled. His answer was along the lines of "We're very busy right now, are you coming in tonight?" Since it's something he reported in his blog, rather than in hardcopy print, I can't even imagine it was a question of being under some kind of deadline pressure. Is there so much pressure to scoop internet food forums and blogs that even the professionals are playing fast and loose with the facts? ~TDQ Thu Aug 21 11:25:02 -0700 2008 3972778 12005 The Dairy Queen 2 3975662 Try googling for Zuni Nectarine and count the hits. Thu Aug 21 11:36:45 -0700 2008 3975618 10039 Melanie Wong 3 3975697 Well, I'm not going to count the hits (too lazy, sorry), but I googled on Zuni Nectarine and this is what Google returned: Results 1 - 10 of about 9,150 for Zuni Nectarine. (0.24 seconds) That's a lot more hits than 200! Has it expanded exponentially since Robert's post about a day ago? Or is there a way to identify which ones are food blogs? Wow! What an amazing time we live in. ~TDQ Thu Aug 21 11:46:54 -0700 2008 3975662 12005 The Dairy Queen 2 3975705 A reporter following professional standards would pick up the phone and verify facts before repeating rumors. That's why this story didn't get into print much. I got the >200 figure by Googling "$8 nectarine," then paging through the results to get a rough estimate of total blogs. Thu Aug 21 11:49:44 -0700 2008 3975618 11369 Robert Lauriston 3 3975723 Robert said: "A reporter following professional standards would pick up the phone and verify facts before repeating rumors." Perfectly said. ~TDQ Thu Aug 21 11:56:12 -0700 2008 3975705 12005 The Dairy Queen