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Star Rating System and Newspaper Content Sharing, Part Two

Posted on February 23rd, 2009 3:11pm by Nancy Nichols
Filed under Restaurant News, Reviews

Forgive me for being a little jet lagged and late to the content-sharing party, but I just went back to Eats blog and read June Naylor’s review of Fruia’s Tre Amici that ran last week (2/20) in the DMN. The same review ran in the Star-T on February 4.

I understand the “need” for content sharing. All media outlets are twisting in a tornado right now, and things are changing daily. I’m not suggesting D Magazine is flush with cash. We’re cutting back and adjusting like crazy. But the content sharing issue rears an ugly head when it merges with a rating system based on an analytical method. In the past, DMN reviews of new restaurants have been based on multiple visits. If this policy has changed, it is only fair to inform the reader.

So the DMN runs June’s review, which was written without stars for the Star-Telegram. Fine. But who, then, at the DMN decided how many stars Tre Amici deserved? Not to mention the fact that it doesn’t feel right to hold her one-visit review for the Star-T up to the criteria used for past lead reviews in the DMN. Four stars after tasting four items? Yow. Zah. Once again, we lose faith in the star system. I bet there are some PO’d restaurateurs in town. Leslie Brenner, Axel Rose has a message for you.

28 comments

  1. I completely wholeheartedly agree!! It skews the entire system of ratings when they’re not judged in the same light. Totally not cool.

    @ 3:21 pm on February 23, 2009

  2. Perhaps the fact that Leslie Brenner has only been here at most two weeks might be a good reason the DMN and Star Telegram had some content sharing. I would say a big move cross country would put someone back on their job for a few days. I am no expert but I would say she is still trying to get settled and find her way around town. Perhaps we should give her a break and be a bit more welcoming. That is what Texans are know for correct?

    The star rating system will never be an exact science. I agree there is need for multiple visits. Is the star rating fight in Dallas ever going to end though? No.

    On another note, there has been a lot said and questioned about Snooty Foodie’s Top 10 post while Nancy was in Belgium.

    @ 3:32 pm on February 23, 2009

  3. Shane: The point of the Snooty’s Top 10 post was to generate discussion. Mission accomplished.

    @ 4:18 pm on February 23, 2009

  4. When reading Snooty’s top 10 there are a number things to consider. 1 I didn’t just read this 2 weeks ago somewhere else. 2 I’m reading this from a blog 3. I was told this was a contributing opinion

    What the DMN did was terribly wrong. Nancy’s totally right on. I want to know WHO/WHAT determined the stars? The impact of DMN reveiw is serious and real… just ask Aurora. That review is what determined the 3 visit minimum. Luckily for Tre Amici it was EXTREMELY generous. Unfortunately for every other 4 star restaurant in Dallas (Nana, Shinsei and so many others) you have recieved a slap in the face and a demotion

    @ 4:33 pm on February 23, 2009

  5. MillPill: Exactly.

    @ 4:38 pm on February 23, 2009

  6. Shane – nobody is blasting Ms. Brenner. We all welcome her here with open arms because things at the DMN appear to be so broken (and that is what the ire is directed at). We know it is struggling and we want her to fix that corner of the paper which she will be responsible for. Why do we care? Because as Texans we value the presence of the news organization that has been here a hundred years and not only want it to survive, but also to thrive. It has made too many wrong turns over the last few years and if content sharing, a star system or restaurant reviews are to be done right the DMN needs to wake up to the fact that the way it has been done lately is not good enough.

    @ 5:17 pm on February 23, 2009

  7. Sharing review content simply confirms that the critics are less critical, or at least not as entertaining and in demand as they used to be.

    I predict that soon both papers will simply reprint crowd-sourcing digests from Yelp.com and sites like that — letting whatever old-fashioned readers that remain eat their own cooking, as it were.

    ph

    @ 5:36 pm on February 23, 2009

  8. It’s funny to see the Frontburner people huff and puff about journalistic integrity.
    The Frontburner publishes rumors without bothering to even make a single phone call to check them out. The editors have made it clear they think this is fine, in fact, it’s their strategy.
    So you know what? When you people show some commitment to sourced-based facts, maybe you can complain about the subjective star rating system used by somebody else.
    This whole “it’s a blog, it’s different, don’t be so literal” attitude is entertaining, but not journalism.

    @ 5:46 pm on February 23, 2009

  9. What do you mean YOU people?

    @ 5:55 pm on February 23, 2009

  10. It’s Axel

    @ 6:16 pm on February 23, 2009

  11. Funny,
    “When you people show some commitment to sourced-based facts, maybe you can complain about the subjective star rating system used by somebody else.” I’m not sure I get what you are driving at? What is not factual about the post? June Naylor went to the restaurant once. The DMN had, until then, a policy of 3 visits. That’s the facts. Also, how do YOU know I didn’t make a phone call? Or send e-mails to verify my facts. (Which I did.)

    Congress, thanks.

    @ 6:28 pm on February 23, 2009

  12. The most entertaining events in the jungle are the fighting cats.

    @ 8:27 pm on February 23, 2009

  13. “The DMN had, until then, a policy of 3 visits”

    are you absolutely sure about that, NN?

    @ 8:33 pm on February 23, 2009

  14. Where is the DMN to clarify the situation for all?

    @ 10:32 pm on February 23, 2009

  15. This isn’t all that different from the movie reviews. The DMN used to have staff critics review most movies. Now, the Friday movie section is predominantly wire reviews. (Often from the Orlando Sentinel, which has apparently passed the DMN by in the world of big-time newspaper journalism.)

    The letter grades on those wire reviews are just arbitrarily chosen by some editor at the DMN who didn’t even see the movie.

    @ 9:04 am on February 24, 2009

  16. Nancy — boy am I disillusioned after reading Robert D’s post. Is this true that some staffer arbitrarily assigns a letter grade after they read another critics review after they themselves may or may not have even seen the movie?

    Could this have happened when Ms. Naylor sent her review in to the DMN? Think all would love it if Nancy could get an interview with June Naylor and the folks over at the DMN. How about Ms. Brenner’s opinion of all of this too? Or even your buddy T.G.?

    If this stuff turns out to be true — then my vote goes for forgetting the whole star mess. Feeling my girlish enthusiasm for all things critical getting doused. Sorry.

    @ 12:26 pm on February 24, 2009

  17. for me…i don’t really pay attention to the ratings. I read the description of service and food…and go from there. Reviews are wonderful devices to use when trying to choose a restaurant to visit…but depending on one persons interpretation…does nothing for me. That’s why I prefer sites that allow multiple visitors to add their comments and reviews..yes i know some of them are probably fake, but for the most part it will give you an accurate description of what to expect.

    @ 1:11 pm on February 24, 2009

  18. I put much more stock in a rating from the Snooty Foodies than from a visitor from Fort Worth. Whether I agree with the Foodies or not, I know they’ve eaten at all of the best places in Dallas and have some perspective.

    @ 1:54 pm on February 24, 2009

  19. Pot Net, you do realize that June Naylor eats and writes about restaurants in and around Dallas all the time and has been doing so for years.

    Her ability as a food writer and critic has never been an issue. The f’d up star system in Dallas however always has.

    @ 2:19 pm on February 24, 2009

  20. To set the record straight: The Dallas Morning News’ practice is to make two visits for most reviews. On occasion, an additional visit will be made when the first two experiences are wildly divergent, or when there’s another special aspect to consider, such as a chef’s table.

    This listings policy is printed in Guide each week: “Critics visit most restaurants at least twice for reviews, though for some update reviews, critics may visit only once.”

    The Fort Worth review was part of an experiment in content-sharing.

    Check out new DMN critic Leslie Brenner on the Eats blog. Her first column will appear on GuideLive.com late Wednesday and in the print Guide section on Friday. And she’s doing a live chat on Friday.

    To set the record straight: The Dallas Morning News’ practice is to make two visits for most reviews. On occasion, an additional visit will be made when the first two experiences are wildly divergent, or when there’s another special aspect to consider, such as a chef’s table.

    This listings policy is printed in Guide each week: “Critics visit most restaurants at least twice for reviews, though for some update reviews, critics may visit only once.”

    The Fort Worth review was part of an experiment in content-sharing.

    Check out new DMN critic Leslie Brenner on the Eats blog. Her first column will appear on GuideLive.com late Wednesday and in the print Guide section on Friday. And she’s doing a live chat at noon Friday.

    Leslie Snyder
    Arts and Features Editor

    @ 2:47 pm on February 24, 2009

  21. Sorry for the repeating! I really really mean it

    @ 2:49 pm on February 24, 2009

  22. Thank you, Leslie Snyder. I really really mean it.

    @ 3:08 pm on February 24, 2009

  23. I realize that June Naylor eats and writes about restaurants in Dallas once in a while. But no way has she been to York Street, Nana, Charlie Palmer, Craft, Fearing’s, Lola, Nonna, and Stephan Pyles more often than the Snooty Foodies. She doesn’t have the perspective of someone who lives and dines seriously in Dallas.

    @ 3:54 pm on February 24, 2009

  24. Content sharing is just plain crazy when it comes to film and food reviews as a source of information to the consumer. Everyone writes from a point of view, that over time you begin to understand that writers tastes, prefrences and standards. So to throw in a review of someone who could be coming from a totally different place skews the context. Why any stars, just review the restauarant. As for Snooty Foodies, I would bet that 95% of the people reading this blog know how great their Top Ten restaurants are, there simply is nothing informative here. It all comes off as a creepy chef groupie thing. The same thing again and again

    @ 9:28 am on February 25, 2009

  25. Don’t know what kind of pot you have snared in your net but how many times a year would you guess that most food critics who physically live in Dallas actually eat at the likes of Stephan Pyles, Nana, Fearings, York Street, etc…?

    Also, does something magically happen to a person’s brain and perspective and seriousness when they geographically don’t physically sleep in Dallas county? Don’t logically follow that kind of thinking — especially after the advent of the automobile a few years back.

    @ 10:53 am on February 25, 2009

  26. Roger that, Not TG. June gets around. Restaurants I mean.

    @ 11:41 am on February 25, 2009

  27. @NN

    Or June gets around so that the person she wants — can Naylor.

    OK — I’ll stop.

    @ 12:07 pm on February 25, 2009

  28. I don’t know how many times the Dallas critics eat in those restaurants. But it’s more often than a critic who lives and works in Fort Worth or Austin or Houston or New York or Paris does. That wasn’t the comparison I made, though. I compared her to the Snooty Foodies, who eat in the top Dallas restaurants more often than all of the above.

    @ 3:31 pm on February 25, 2009