Men's Fitness has just published its list of the ten best burgers in the country. Only it's not their list—it's a Zagat-driven list. So the sub-head of the piece is totally misleading:
"We searched high and low for the country's 10 most mouthwatering burgers." That, serious eaters, is complete bull (no pun intended, partner). They confined their search to Zagat's entries.
Why do magazines publish best-of lists that include places that no one at the magazine has tried? I guess they think that people love these top ten lists so much they won't care how they're compiled.
When Raymond Sokolov published his best-burger list in the Wall Street Journal, he didn't phone or e-mail it in. He went and subjected his digestive system to an all-burger diet. When one of my favorite food writers Alan Richman wrote his 20 Burgers to Eat Before You Die story for GQ, I bet he didn't phone it in either.
To confirm Richman's methodology I inquired about it in an e-mail. His response:
Yup, me personally, every damn place on the list (and about 70 more). An insane piece to do, took me about 3 months. Thanks for asking.
Richman's a pro when it comes to this kind of story. He knows that to do it any other way is a fake, a sham, a mockery of all that serious eaters hold near and dear.
I know to properly compile these lists requires time, money, and an insane passion for burgers. But if a national magazine wants to do it they should do it right or not do it at all. If Men's Fitness wanted to do right by a top ten hamburger list they should have paid someone to fly around the country, or they should have called AHT friend George Motz, who literally wrote the book on burgers.
No, your outrage is correct. It's as though a restaurant reviewer went around to yelp.com and other web sites to put together a weekly batch of reviews and never ate about what he wrote. It's laziness on their part, and a forkful a plaigarism, with a pinch of dishonesty.
No! Your outrage is spot on. The very first time I saw a Top 10 list, I thought, Wow! Someone went to a lot of trouble to provide us with a legitimate list of "whatever" to allow us to indulge without having to figure it out ourselves. It took me a few dollars to realize I had been duped! Granted, these lists have evolved over the years, and there certainly are Top 10 lists worth checking out, but I agree with Luna that the laziness, dishonesty and plagiarism on the part of Men's Fitness is an embarrassment.
I especially love to Top 10 lists in the airline magazines! How many suckers do you think believe those lists are real?
I'm a fan of what George Motz did for his doc and book so I think your outrage is perfectly placed.
On the Men's Fitness website, the burger story is listed under the 'Nutrition' tab. That's weird, especially given that they can't vouch for the nutritional aspects of said burgers that no one at the magazine bothered to try. But...I guess there's room for a best burger list on the same site as how men should rid themselves of excess body hair, right? LOL
I found it interesting that Men's Fitness is under the same publishing umbrella as the National Enquirer.
Your outrage is appropriate, but I think its worth going a step further and looking seriously at the journalistic value of such a generic top ten list. Why do magazines love to publish top ten lists so much?
I'd bet its because its a simple medium, that requires little effort, and the format probably attracts more eyes because of this.
This is only reinforced by the fact that the list topic is as generic as "Burgers in America". How could that even be narrowed down to such a small list?
If the entirety of your payroll, could try even most of the burgers in the US I could all but guarantee they couldn't narrow their list down to 10.
What does that say about your mag/blog/paper? That you value quantity over quality, and you have hired the staff to prove it.
Well, they didn't say where they searched high and low. There's no shame in that they limited their high and low search to their box of incoming press releases.
At least it's not like they just re-ran the article they published last year. Men's Fitness magazine is notorious for re-publishing articles.
Ironically, if someone compiled a top 10 list of men's fitness magazines, Men's Fitness wouldn't make it due to shoddy journalism. I say don't get all worked up over the trival and inane. Go eat a good burger somewhere and chill.
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13 Comments:
No, your outrage is correct. It's as though a restaurant reviewer went around to yelp.com and other web sites to put together a weekly batch of reviews and never ate about what he wrote. It's laziness on their part, and a forkful a plaigarism, with a pinch of dishonesty.
LunaPierCook at 4:56PM on 10/10/08
Outrage perfectly appropriate
cheeseburger at 5:09PM on 10/10/08
No! Your outrage is spot on. The very first time I saw a Top 10 list, I thought, Wow! Someone went to a lot of trouble to provide us with a legitimate list of "whatever" to allow us to indulge without having to figure it out ourselves. It took me a few dollars to realize I had been duped! Granted, these lists have evolved over the years, and there certainly are Top 10 lists worth checking out, but I agree with Luna that the laziness, dishonesty and plagiarism on the part of Men's Fitness is an embarrassment.
I especially love to Top 10 lists in the airline magazines! How many suckers do you think believe those lists are real?
izatryt at 5:12PM on 10/10/08
That's a shame.
Another issue, why is this is Men's Fitness? There's no "burger" in "fitness."
Laurel E at 5:14PM on 10/10/08
I'm a fan of what George Motz did for his doc and book so I think your outrage is perfectly placed.
On the Men's Fitness website, the burger story is listed under the 'Nutrition' tab. That's weird, especially given that they can't vouch for the nutritional aspects of said burgers that no one at the magazine bothered to try. But...I guess there's room for a best burger list on the same site as how men should rid themselves of excess body hair, right? LOL
I found it interesting that Men's Fitness is under the same publishing umbrella as the National Enquirer.
holdthemayo at 5:32PM on 10/10/08
It's common sense and good journalism. Rage on, food warrior!
OneWallKitchen at 7:07PM on 10/10/08
Your outrage is appropriate, but I think its worth going a step further and looking seriously at the journalistic value of such a generic top ten list. Why do magazines love to publish top ten lists so much?
I'd bet its because its a simple medium, that requires little effort, and the format probably attracts more eyes because of this.
This is only reinforced by the fact that the list topic is as generic as "Burgers in America". How could that even be narrowed down to such a small list?
If the entirety of your payroll, could try even most of the burgers in the US I could all but guarantee they couldn't narrow their list down to 10.
What does that say about your mag/blog/paper? That you value quantity over quality, and you have hired the staff to prove it.
cjmemay at 7:16PM on 10/10/08
Well, they didn't say where they searched high and low. There's no shame in that they limited their high and low search to their box of incoming press releases.
At least it's not like they just re-ran the article they published last year. Men's Fitness magazine is notorious for re-publishing articles.
DaveFaris at 12:32PM on 10/11/08
OMG, Izzy is agreeing with LPC. The apocalypse can't be far behind.
buffy at 5:43PM on 10/11/08
@buffy, far behind? Really, that means ... it's already here!!!
LunaPierCook at 9:07PM on 10/11/08
It sucks not only because it doesn't show original thought, but because it doesn't include Ann's Snack Bar. BEST BURGER IN AMERICA!
brittj8585 at 10:58PM on 10/11/08
Torches and pitchforks!
benzado at 4:16PM on 10/12/08
Ironically, if someone compiled a top 10 list of men's fitness magazines, Men's Fitness wouldn't make it due to shoddy journalism. I say don't get all worked up over the trival and inane. Go eat a good burger somewhere and chill.
pattyplus at 12:58PM on 10/13/08