PressEthic

As a semi-regular reader of Esquire, I merely skimmed through food critic John Mariani's article "The Best New Restaurants, 2005." After all, I hardly qualify as a "foodie" and, besides, NYU Grad School bills aren't allowing a whole lot of discretionary income. So on I went, focusing instead on more compelling topics like Jessica Biel being awarded the magazine's "sexiest woman alive" title.

Little did I know that Mariani's article would be the most controversial piece the magazine would run all year. The LA Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Cleveland Plain Dealer and more are all accusing John Mariani of checking his ethics at the door because he accepted meals, flights and services free of charge from some of the restaurants about which he wrote glowing reviews. To critics of Mariani's actions, the reviewer broke Rule #1 for his business by not following the accepted practice of hiding his identity in order to experience the restaurant like his fellow patrons.

Mariani's defenders say that it's no different than a theatre critic getting a free ticket to a play that he later covers for a publication. But, as the chairman of Cal State's journalism department notes in the LA Times piece about the controversy, such a comparison isn't valid. "When a theatre critic goes in to review opening night, that critic is going in and getting the same course, if you will, that everyone else in that same restaurant is getting. It's not a separate playbill. Anthony Hopkins is not acting in a solo performance just for that reviewer."

Most ethics issues are notoriously thorny matters without a simple, clear answer. Mariani's case is the rare exception -- I don't know how anyone could look at what he did and not see the ethical breach. If food critics are to continue to be taken seriously, they need to maintain their journalistic integrity. It's all they have.