19 September 2004
Will the Chronicle Issue a Clarification to its Correction?
On Friday, Kristen Mack turned in her first column as the Chronicle's new local-politics columnist, a spot unfilled since John Williams left the newspaper in June.
It was an inauspicious start, inasmuch as it included this snippet at the very end:
State Rep. Talmadge Heflin says he's in tune with his district. On a recent television show Heflin said: "I have been very much in touch with the district. It covers part of Katy school district, part of Alief, part of HISD, part of Spring Branch and part of Stafford. I know the district, I know the schools, I know the needs."
Apparently he doesn't know it as well as he thinks. Turns out no part of the Spring Branch School District is in State House District 149, according to Heflin's Web site.
Leaving aside the fact that Mack's last sentence is actually a fragment (there's no subject), it's a mean "gotcha" type assertion that must have been embarrassing to the newspaper since, as Rob Booth pointed out, it's not true.
The Chronicle ran the following correction today:
State House District 149 represented by Talmadge Heflin, R-Houston, includes a non-residential portion of the Spring Branch Independent School District. A story on page B2 in Friday's Chronicle said incorrectly that none of the district is in SBISD.
Booth takes issue with the correction, noting that it's also "factually incorrect."
Will the newspaper now issue a clarification of its correction? Stay tuned.
Mack's column, incidentally, will appear every Friday.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/19/04 09:36 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)
Texas Magazine, RIP
The Chronicle has ceased publication of its weekend Texas Magazine:
Texas Magazine has suspended publication. The Houston Chronicle is exploring the best ways to offer its readers in-depth, well-written stories about the people of this state. Moving forward, you'll find many of those articles in the Star section, along with the rest of our high-quality lifestyle coverage Sunday and daily.
The Texas Magazine was a handy repository of stories about Texas people and places as well as schedules for festivals and such all across the state. There's no way that sort of coverage can be effectively rolled into the "star" section (we use quotes because that's not the section's actual name, but a reference to the symbol that serves as the name of the section).
Even worse, the editor of the "star" section describes herself as a "recent Houston transplant." That's right, she's new to Texas! It's not her fault that she doesn't yet know enough about our fine state to hold it in the high regard it deserves, but we do wonder about the wisdom of tranferring responsibility for features on Texas to a fairly recent Texan who spends part of her day working on this.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/19/04 09:18 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)
The Quest for Houston's Best Burger
The Chronicle's Dai Huynh sings the praises of Christian's Tailgate Grill and Bar on Washington near I-10. His is as much a story of the place as a food review.
That's also the style of Robb Walsh, who reviewed the place for the Houston Press in January:
"This is the best burger in Houston," Bebout whispers devoutly.
Finally, I'm allowed to eat. And I have to say, it's absolutely awesome. The hand-formed patty is made from a half-pound of never-frozen, freshly ground beef that cooks up into a very juicy burger. The french fries are average, but the onion rings are excellent. I would have liked the meat a little closer to medium rare, but that's my only quibble.
"Well?" Bebout demands a verdict. I reply by mentioning my usual favorite burger joints. Bebout allows that Adrian's Burger Bar in the Fifth Ward is outstanding. But Adrian puts a whole pound of meat on every burger, and that's too much for average folks to eat at lunch. And yes, he says, the cheeseburger at Rudyard's is indeed psychedelic. But Rudz isn't open for lunch. He goes on to say that the barbecue burger at Guy's is tasty but very well done. And however good the burgers at Tookie's and Gilhooley's may be, these restaurants are inconveniently located way the hell down there on Galveston Bay.
I'm forced to concede. At lunchtime, within the city limits, for hand-formed burger enthusiasts who don't want a whole pound of ground meat, Christian's Totem has the best burger in town.
Rudyard's would get my vote for best burger, but I've never tried the one at Christian's. Perhaps a blogHOUSTON.net field trip will be in order shortly.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/19/04 09:02 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)
Houston Chronicle "Rail Memo" Mirror
In November 2002, as rail was being debated as a transit option for Houston, the Houston Chronicle inadvertently posted an internal memo to their website. The memo quite clearly revealed an editorial strategy aimed at winning the public over to rail, and attacking opponents of rail. It just as clearly revealed the Chronicle as a biased advocate for, rather than objective reporter of, local public policy.
For some time, the Houston Review had the memo posted on their website. Earlier this summer, their website disappeared. An archived version of the memo is available here. In addition, we are mirroring the transcribed memo below. Finally, Tom Bazan sent graphic screen caps of the memo, which are available by clicking here and here.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/19/04 05:43 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (3)
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