Under the title of Checkbook Journalism: Sad to see a magazine that had slowly risen from the depths of mediocrity plummet back the other direction. I learned yesterday that Camas Davis (along with seven other employees) has been laid off from Portland Monthly agazine. As you may know, there was a change in the editor a few months ago. Some editors are an insecure lot. When they come to a new publication, they want to stake their turf and get rid of anyone they feel threatens them. It’s the small penis syndrome, but er… in a woman. She’s peeing in all the corners
This is not only a serious blow to the city, but the sound of a magazine in the throes of death. They will slide back into the ooze they came from, and we’ll finally be freed from mind-numbing banter and the Top 100 Proctologist lists. Trust me, you don’t want to renew your subscription.
I’ve never met Camas, but I’ve been told by an amazing number of people that she’s not only a brilliant editor and food writer, but a terrific person as well. I consider her the best food writer in Portland. Let’s hope she finds something in town, but I have my doubts.
Last summer I was starting to reconsider whether Portland really needs this site. Since then the food coverage has gone to hell. Guess I’m going to stay around.
Gourmet’s Diary of a Foodie is back. I’ve always been a fan of the show; you can see it Fridays at 12:30pm, OPB. Speaking of Gourmet, rumors of the magazine ceasing to have a print addition are rampant. From 24/7, a Wall Street Analyst:
“Gourmet will probably not see the end of the year. Its parent company, Conde Nast, can no longer rely on the huge profits of the newspaper portion of the Newhouse family business. The magazine operation needs to go on a diet. Conde Nast reaches the “food” market several ways. It owns Gourmet, Bon Appetite, and epicurious.com. Conde Nast simply owns too many titles in this category. From 2004 to 2008, Gourmet’s ad pages have dropped from 1,364 to 955, with a 24% drop last year. January’s ad pages were down another 32% according to MIN. Gourmet can survive since it has a competitive audience of web visitors to its food site, but it will have to migrate totally to its website.”
Fonda Rosa restaurant is for sale. The owner has gone back to the corporate world, and is asking $175,000. Seats 44.
Still struggling, Gracie’s in the Hotel deLuxe has hired yet another chef, this one is Mark Hosack. previously worked at Hudson’s, Red Star Tavern, Pazzo, and most recently, Lucier, where he served as Sous Chef.
Speaking of new chefs and struggling restaurants, Saucebox also has a new chef: Gregory Gourdet. Shockingly, I wasn’t invited to the media preview. He’s been around a bit: Jack’s in LaJolla, Mercat in New York, and as chef de Cuisine for Jean-Georges at his Chinese/Modern Asian Restaurant, 66 in New York. I’ll eventually go back for an updated review, but not before the myriad of rumors about Saucebox’s imminent demise calm down… and they pay their payroll taxes (maybe they finally have and I just haven’t heard).
Could Morgan Brownlow be looking for a job (like everyone else, it seems). From Craiglist: “Lauded Chef for Hire: Opening chef and founder of clarklewis.
He would love to come cook for you in any event situation. Public or Private. Please contact to personalize you [sic] event now !”
Last call for Valentine’s day listings! My roundup will post Monday night. <100 words, include times, cost, address, reservations information.
SFGate.com has an interesting article about a restaurateur who is so angry about negative online reviews, he’s decided to do something about it.
Restaurateur Chris Hemmeter, founder and CEO of the E&O Trading Co., has another approach to the ranks of self-appointed restaurant critics: Follow
everything that’s written every day. To do this, he has enlisted the help of a Mountain View company called BooRah, which today will launch a new “reputation management” service for restaurant owners. The 2-year-old firm, which started as a restaurant search site, is expanding to create summaries of everything that’s being written about a particular dining establishment. It uses technology developed in-house to analyze the sentiments in online reviews and then generate scores, rankings and summaries.The reports, which will be available to restaurateurs for $14.95, will detail top review sources, overall ratings and top sentiments among reviewers, and track trends over six months. It also summarizes percentage ratings for food, service and ambiance. The site (boorah.com) has a database of some 600,000 restaurants across the country, and has identified more than 2.5 million reviews.
I’d never heard of BooRah, but they have a big Portland presence. People have way too much time on their hands.
Patrick Coleman over at the Mercury, read my mind: (Marsha Brady hair-toss) Bacon Bacon Bacon! I’m so sick of Bacon! I couldn’t agree more. Most of us love bacon, but you can’t find a menu without some form of it. The “Masterbacon” cookoff at Davis St. Tavern was the last straw. Ugh. Patrick’s article is a good read, the comments even better. Speaking of bacon type things, Newsweek has an interesting article on “the carnivore movement” called Head to Hoof. You can read it here.
A recent study in the Journal of Wine Economics, found that wine judges tend to be less than consistent when judging wines. From a Los Angeles Times article,
In a study published Wednesday by the Journal of Wine Economics, Hodgson wrote that only 10% of the judges were able to consistently give the same rating, or something very close, to the identical wine sampled multiple times in a large blind tasting.
At the opposite end, another 10% of the judges gave the same wine far different ratings, ranging from worthy of a gold medal to deserving of no medal at all on successive tastings. The remaining 80% of the judges also varied in their ratings, but by a narrower range.
As always, comments, news tips, etc – feel free to mail them to pdxfooddude@gmail.com
Clarklewis: I interviewed someone the other day who said, he’d just had a really good meal there.
I had dinner there about a month ago. It may have been the best meal I’ve ever had at Clarklewis.
I’m sorry to hear about Camas being let go. I’ve chatted with her numerous times and she is definitely one of the top local food writers. I wonder where she’ll end up?
As for Camas Davis: magazines always retool when a new editor in chief arrives, it’s the nature of things. That said, as the magazine was rejiggering last fall, and Camas told me, she’d no longer be editing my column, I gave it up. In my experience, we write for our editors more than for the publication, and we follow the good ones, as I certainly will Camas if she stays in the editing game.
I think you meant to say Portland Monthly and not Portland Magazine in the first posting. I believe both exist, or at least did.
The BooRah thing sounds great – i would imagine there are a lot of restaurant owners out there with extra money to spend to get reports of who out there can’t stand what they’re doing. For those who don’t, there is always the free service of setting up a Google Alert so every time something is posted about your restaurant on the web you get an email alert and can check it our yourself. Did I mention that service is FREE?
You know times are getting tough when everyone gets down on bacon. What’s next – kids and ice cream? :)
I thought the same thing about BooRah. Sounds like a fancy word for Google Alerts to me too.
If Portland Monthly is laying off eight staffers, it has way more to do with the fact that their advertising has crashed and burned than it does with any change of editors. This killer recession is going to be the last straw for a lot of publications that have been around for a long time.
The whole publishing industry is a meltdown: newspapers, magazines and books. Editors rearrange the furniture when they come in. It would help Portland Monthly if they would hire from within the city where we have a plethora of underemployed and overeducated editors and writers. They bring in editors from out of state to tell Portland what we are and how we should look at ourselves. Still I can imagine why they have to cut their staff. It’s happening everywhere.
Actually, there is not a plethora of editors in Portland qualified to be editor in chief of a city magazine. Regardless of what you think of PM’s quality, the EIC’s is a giant job that requires you wear many hats; you have to know what makes good long-form narrative journalism and find the people to write it; you need the service side; the art. You need to find the right balance of columnists, and in Portland, where practically no one makes a living as a freelancer (journalists here are either on-staff, or have full-time other gigs doing something else and write a little on the side for the glory, lord knows they don’t do it for the money), this is not easy. You need to have a crack managing editor (or be one yourself), and be able to manage a budget, and the publisher, and be a face in the community. It’s a ton of work and frankly, most people in most cities are no good at it; there are probably four great city magazines in the country. Portland has not historically been one of them, and you just don’t have the people here with the experience to pull it off. That will change as the market grows.
You might not have meant it to but that came off as pretty condescending. Where are you from?
That there are larger and more experienced journalism markets in the world than Portland is not opinion; it’s how it is. Don’t take my word for it; ask any local journalist.
Dee Dee: you chose to take it as condescending. I don’t see it that way at all and I’m a PDX native, not that it should matter. It’s the truth.
Nope, it DID come off as a bit snotty (though, I suspect, unintentionally). And I say that as a former New Yorker (who frequently still finds it a mite provincial here!). And I’ve never found New York Magazine particularly “great”.
There are undoubtedly larger and more experienced journalism markets than Portland. I’ve worked in or for a few of those markets (Amsterdam, New York, Sydney, San Francisco, Chicago, etc.). The assumption that Portland lacks competent magazine editors still sounds off to me. We do have a bad market for freelancers (too many writers, not enough work, 50 cents a word considered “good” at the top selling magazines and newspapers — as you say, nancy, “ask any local journalist,” some of whom might even be honest about the bad pay they accept from local markets).
Still, hidden among us are gems of editors. Were I a local magazine, I would make a concerted effort to dig them out and polish them up. They understand the culture here (and being Portlanders would likely take a lower salary than the imported editors). If the Monthly is bleeding money and staff it seems they might be open to changing their editorial model.
I’m still curious as to where you’re from, too, nancy, and I hope I’m not sounding accidentally condescending about all this either. Just wondering.
Brooklyn, New York originally.
Nancy, what are the four great city magazines do you feel? Living in Los Angeles, I’d suppose Los Angeles Magazine is one of them, it’s always a good read, but perhaps I’m biased. New York is also enjoyable and something I pick up occasionally when I’m not there even. Those are my two picks. I see at the newsstand here, the Seattle magazine and a Chicago rag if memory serves me. Maybe some SW regional magazine as well, but I guess that does not fall into the city category. Thanks.
I live in Portland. But yes: this incarnation of Los Angeles magazine, edited by Kit Rachlis. New York magazine, and Texas Monthly. Will get back to you when I think of the fourth.
I know you live in Portland, I was meaning I live in Los Angeles. Hmm Texas Monthly, I would have never guessed. Maybe Boston has a great magazine? San Francisco? D.C.?
Texas Monthly may be the country’s best city magazine (despite it being named for the state). Really top writing, smart, good looking. It’s great. I saw the Boston city magazine last summer and it was okay; nice, nothing mind-blowing. I’d assume DC, but then, they’ve got one of the country’s last great newspapers, and Reason magazine is there, so, they’re ahead of the game regardless. And yes, it would make sense that Chicago does. Anyone know?
I’ve lived in Chicago… okay, fine, “Chicagoland” for all you Chicago people, and Chicago (the magazine) is, was… fine. Nothing riveting that I can recall, but hey, they’re still printing! That says a lot these days, doesn’t it?
It’s no more a metro magazine than Texas Monthly is (and, yes, Texas Monthly belongs on that list), but I’d suggest The Oxford American belongs on that list, and for the same reasons.
I don’t know if San Francisco has a great city magazine, but it has all the elements for one: rich history, the monied old guard, the nouveaux riches, spicy politics, a good restaurant scene (with its own storied history), major museums and their Borgia-level intrigues, a wide variety of neighborhoods, cultures and classes, music and art and pro sports, and quite a bit more.
The big difference between Portland and those few cities that are home to better city magazines is that they’re all places with way more people and way WAY more money than we have here. Nobody around here ever wants to hear it, but it’s true: It’s ALWAYS about the money.
So the question that matters is: Are there any metro areas comparable to Portland in size — Cleveland? Pittsburgh? Cincinnati? — that support great city mags? And the answer: Of course not.
Cleveland monthly, Charlotte monthly and Philadelphia Monthly are ones I am familiar with that have terrific writers and smart, engaging content that isn’t afraid to tackle real news, controversial subjects and are less fluffy rah-rah upper crusty boosterim than many city rags.
It can be done in mid-sized markets.
And I concur at the loss of Camas. She was exactly what this City needs in print publications – sophisticated, in touch with the city at all levels, knows her craft and specialty subject matter inside and out and highly professional. One of the best editors in town. She’s from Eugene, Oregon, BTW then spent time in NYC.
Anyway, Portland print media, for the most part perplexes the heck out of me. It always has.
From a friend who lives in Texas:
texas monthly is no better than any other pub. out there. the stories are glorified advertisements and unless you are in the market for second or third home in a gated community the magazine doesn’t speak to or for you. pat sharpe is googoo for a couple glorified chefs and they could produce turd on a stick and she would write it was the best turd on stick she ever had and was enhanced by the limestone walls and the chatter of the hill country crickets. the difference is that austin has a overly-talented pool of writers to pull from, in fact that can be said for austin’s music scene as well….. just because once a year they go out to jesusland texas and find a story in the abuses of local power to keep a minority down doesn’t separate them…
Really? You don’t think there’s a single person in Portland qualified to be EIC of Portland Monthly? Not one?
You do realize which magazine we’re talking about here, don’t you?
What I said was, I don’t know of one that doesn’t already have a giant editorial gig. There are several editors I know of in town who would do a great job, but they already edit a publication and, in one case, two.
I am sure I have hijacked the Dude’s blog enough over editorial. Over and out.
I thought “checkbook journalism” is when a media organization pays someone for an interview.
From the context, I can’t divine your meaning of the phrase.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/591437
Here’s a Chowhound discussion of “Reputation Management”.
I consider it ‘checkbook’ when a magazine writes articles for the specific reason in pleasing or attracting advertisers. Top 100 Doctors, surrounded by advertising for doctors, etc.
Sad about Ms.Davis, she did a really fine job. I hope she finds something else to do local.
I was lucky enough to work with Camas as an intern at Portland Monthly. Of all the editors there (aside from Jon), she was the most helpful. I learned so much working with and writing for her. Camas is the person who inspired me to become a food writer, and opened my eyes to the fact that good food writing is art. When my internship at Portland Monthly ended, Camas was the one with the most feedback and information–I’m still working through the reading list that she gave me… I owe a lot to Camas, and I hope she lands on her feet.
As the Publisher of Portland Monthly I thought you might appreciate hearing the facts, as dull as they might be. Thursday, we laid off 2 full time editors from Portland Monthly magazine, 1 event assistant, 1 designer and 1 part time web photographer. We also laid off 2 part time staffers at Portland Spaces magazine and 1 part time editor from our custom publishing division. This takes the company’s staff down to just over 80 people. These were simply cost saving measures in extraordinary times, no more and no less, and they were all wrenching decisions. Camas is a very talented writer and editor and we wish only the best for her.
We both know the truth here. Two people were “laid off” under the guise of poor economic conditions, when in fact, it was personal.
Nicole… this is a really, really bad move. It’s like a restaurant “letting go” his best bartender, you know, the one that brings you really good business. I am discussed by your decision. I use to love your mag and now, not only I lost respect for you and your publication but I will go out of my way not to buy it again and spread the word on your nasty decisions.
Shame on you.
There are always many sides to every story, and it’s no new surprise that the local journalism industry is hurting. Willamette Week and the Oregonian have also let go some of their better writers. Did anyone happen to see the latest Portland Monthly? It was thin like a comic book. Certainly something had to give.
That said, I’ll also miss the insightful reviews of Camas Davis.
All our magazines are suffering and some will fall. There are only so many advertisers in Portland and many are pinched right now. PDX Magazine was so skinny it looked like a comic book size this last time. Portland Monthly is suffering, sure, but it still remains “the” publication which is just one reason why the rates are higher than anyone else in town. The nationals are so bad off that we will see the last issues of some this year. When you pay $110,000 for a one page in a national magazine such as Sunset or Cooking Light and it was 30 pages fewer than the same time frame last year – that pretty much says it.
Portland Magazine rose to the level it did because it was under good management in a pretty viable economic paradigm until this past year. The restaurants are all cutting back on advertising, some are just giving cash cards away to get people in the door so I’m not that surprised that the Food Editor is gone although everyone appreciated her words.
Um… “Marcia Marcia Marcia” was not (obviously) said by Marcia, herself. Hence, Bacon Bacon Bacon would be uttered with a Jan Brady hairtoss.
I hate to split…hairs (sorry), but I’m a sucka for accuracy, particularly where 1970′s TV minutae is concerned.
E & O Trading Co. is really not good, and quite pricey. It’s located off of Union Square near my old office and I am glad to hear the word is getting out about the quality. I would cringe when out of towners would suggest going there.
I’d rather read Edible Portland than Portland Monthly, but unfortunately they are both free to 97210 zip code and I end up reading whatever arrives under my eyes.
As time goes by, I’ve been getting more and more impressed with Mix. Nice photography, good editing, and at least a couple of interesting stories in each issue.
Actually, I think Mix is one of the better pub’s too. Not jammed up and good looking, nice size and quality of paper doesn’t hurt either. It appears like they are trying at least!
MIX is edited by the former editor of Fine Cooking.
As for Portland Monthly, if anyone hasn’t noticed that the economics of print journalism are beyond tough, please pay attention. Do you subscribe to The O? To Gourmet? To ??? Nothing on paper can survive without both advertisers and subscribers.
I don’t subscribe to the O, because it doesn’t have anything compelling that I can’t find online. I do, however, subscribe to a variety of food magazines, including Gourmet. If Mix keeps up the good work, I’ll probably subscribe to it too.
I’d argue that it only takes subscribers, not advertisers. There are plenty of publications (the Wine Advocate, Consumer Reports, many academic journals, etc.) that don’t take advertising and still manage to survive via subscription fees.
With all due respect, comparing a non-profit organization’s magazine (grant money, donations available), academic journals and a specialty wine newsletter with a national buzz to consumer magazines does not a good argument make. As a former publisher I can tell you that 80 to 90 percent of a publication’s revenues come from advertising. That’s why you see magazines (Subscribe to Gourmet! $1 an issue!) giving the product away to attract advertising. If you think Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Saveur, Wine Spectator et. al. could thrive ad free then you suggest the ad department is a drag on revenues? Do you think publishers might not have looked at all the possible ways to make a profit? If people aren’t subscribing at $12 a year who will take the magazine at say $50 or $60 or $70 a year (random amount) to keep it alive? A few publications will always survive without ads .. see Cook’s … but for 95 percent it isn’t so. For a city magazine? Do the math. In fact, the only way to make a city publication really successful is to give it away free: Willamette Week. The money is in the ads.
The point is that people are willing to pay $50-100+ for ad-free publications if they feel the product is good enough. If the product is junk and just full of ads and weak content (100 best doctors, anyone?), then it’s not a deal at $12, even if it is supported by ad revenue.
Martha Holmberg edits the O’s Food Day as well as MIX.
I subscribe to the NY Times (two copies, every day, one to each of our businesses), the O, and four magazines. I do this because I like to read on paper; also, I like long narrative articles, and reading 8,000 words online is sort of a drag.
The economics of a publication, while subscription driven insomuch as dollars and because advertisers like to know how many eyeballs they’re reaching, is more dependent on advertising, and that, I fear, is down perhaps forever.
As most of you know, the word is, Gourmet will be out of business by year’s end.
Yes, its sad, but word on the publishing street is Gourmet will be gone by summer. At least the print version.
(cough) This is covered in the article above.
I will miss Gourmet, their styling and photos are impeccable
I think maybe Food Dude should start his own local foodie magazine. We could do it zine style and make it a downloadable PDF. Who’s in?
Isn’t that already pretty much what I do? It’s not downloadable, but one can subscribe to have it delivered to their inbox every day. Besides, then what would I put on the site!?
I agree with the Dude; it’s perfection as is.
I am
That’s cool.
When I first moved to LA I lived in Beachwood Canyon, one day I walked down to Franklin where that little strip of shops/restaurants is, going east just shy of Bronson. Included there, is a magazine stand with a few random books being sold, a little mishmash of things actually. Well, as I was buying some magazines, I was surprised to see Rommelmann’s Los Angeles Bar & Nightlife Guide at the counter. I picked it up of course, and enjoyed reading a bit then… more than that however I enjoy looking at it now and seeing her perspective of places that have now become familiar to me.
Looking forward to see how this media evolves in Portland.
Count me in. Great idea Nino!
Count me in too.
Food Dude should do a printed quarterly of “The Best of Portland Food and Drink” … I know a GREAT graphic artist that would be available!
I like this site just the way it is.