Ruth Reichl selling stuff

[Fat Guy]

Very revealing interview with former Gourmet editor-in-chief (and New York Times restaurant reviewer) Ruth Reichl. She is now in the business of creating what I'd characterize as advertorial content for Gilt Taste. She says, among other things:

Is there a line being crossed when you merge commerce and journalism?

There isn't any line to cross. We're one unit. That firewall that used to exist has been eroding for years. We wouldn't be selling something if we weren't proud of it. And we wouldn't write about something we weren't interested in.... Now, I don't have a publisher asking, "can you use these products in a recipe?" just because they're an advertiser.

The full interview is here.

[rotuts]

although i dont know the details,

Mr Potato Head said in Toy Story 3:

"Money, Money, Money"

after all he was a Potato and a Head.

then there was the older quote From That Movie:

"Show Meeeeeeeeee The Money!"

even earlier:

Gecko said: "Greed is Good"

thats Us Today. check the financials tomorrow in the NYTimes its all there Plain to See

you might check the WSJ, but I hear they have a problems with their Phones.

Edited October 1, 2011 by rotuts (log)

[butterscotch]

Not seeing a link, so here is one.

http://mobile.latimes.com/p.p?a=rp&m=b&postId=894398&curAbsIndex=7&resultsUrl=DID%3D6%26DFCL%3D1000%26DSB%3Drank%2523desc%26DBFQ%3DuserId%253A7%26DL.w%3D%26DL.d%3D10%26DQ%3DsectionId%253A6931%26DPS%3D0%26DPL%3D10

[IndyRob]

I was just browsing the site trying to get a feel for what it was all about. I clicked on a story (read: Recipe) on a gruyere and chanterelle grilled cheese. At the bottom were comments. The first discussion involved someone saying they were adding chanterelles to their grocery list, followed by someone asking where he could find chanterelles (Not sure if he missed the hyperlink or was being funny). This was followed by someone helpfully informing him where he could source chanterelles locally.

Ah well, perhaps if this doesn't work out then Ruth can write the Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer.

[Edit]Removed redundant 'perhaps'

Edited October 1, 2011 by IndyRob (log)

[LindaK]

Earlier this summer, a member who was working on the web site asked us for our opinion: Gilt Taste

I appreciate Reichl's honesty about doing away with the line between journalism and commerce in food publications. But it doesn't inspire me to check it out. When someone links to it because of a really good piece of writing, then I'll look at the site.

[janeer]

Very revealing interview with former Gourmet editor-in-chief (and New York Times restaurant reviewer) Ruth Reichl. She is now in the business of creating what I'd characterize as advertorial content for Gilt Taste. She says, among other things:

Is there a line being crossed when you merge commerce and journalism?

There isn't any line to cross. We're one unit. That firewall that used to exist has been eroding for years. We wouldn't be selling something if we weren't proud of it. And we wouldn't write about something we weren't interested in.... Now, I don't have a publisher asking, "can you use these products in a recipe?" just because they're an advertiser.

The full interview is here.

So: Gourmet cared about conflict of interest. Ruth is now part of an adverising-driven revenue model, instead of a content-driven revenue model. Everyone engaged in conflicts of interest always says what she does: it doesn't change what we do. I suggest she might want to read some of the research on this.

[JBailey]

Isn't Ruhlman doing the same thing with Open Sky? The line between self-promotion or flogging a book then morphs when someone begins generating revenue from those of us who want to know what tools someone might be using. Then again, lots of chefs are under contract to promote various products. Maybe this did in fact start with the decline of print magazines with codes of ethics for writers...at least those writers had the review of superiors before engaging in promotion.