| The future of the food beat |
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Everyone does it. Some more than others. We eat. Boy, do we eat.
Americans _ even children _ are in an obesity crisis. It's an epidemic,
health officials say. So why do so many newspaper editors regard food
sections as fluff? It's time for them to recognize the food beat for
what it is: News.
The future of the food beat Everyone does it. Some more than others. We eat. Boy, do we eat. Americans _ even children _ are in an obesity crisis. It's an epidemic, health officials say. So why do so many newspaper editors regard food sections as fluff? It's time for them to recognize the food beat for what it is: News. "Food is a cultural currency in a way it never has been before," said Kim Severson, moderator of "The Future of the Food Beat" workshop at the 58th annual AASFE convention in New Orleans last week. Severson is a former food writer and editor at the San Francisco Chronicle who is about to start a new job at The New York Times. "We need to open up our minds to the potential for food and how it plays in our newspapers." Here's how it's historically been played: The food section would run recipes, restaurant reviews and general feature stories. Meanwhile, the metro, business and A-sections would run the hard-news stories on mad cow disease, General Mills' foray into whole grain cereal and E-coli bacteria. Those stories were usually written by metro reporters. That should change, said Michael Bauer, executive food and wine editor and restaurant critic for the San Francisco Chronicle. His paper made food a news beat. "Hard news reporters are in the food section," he said, adding that they write about everything from health to nutrition to fitness. "There should be equal respect for recipes and hard news food stories." While beefing up your food section, you should also remember that recipes are "the backbone" of your section, said Judy Walker, food editor of The Times-Picayune in New Orleans. The panel, which also included Sally Squires of The Washington Post and Bill Daley of the Chicago Tribune, offered several components on what they think a modern food section should include:
Candace Johnson is entertainment editor at The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk and a 2004 AASFE fellow. |