Alexandria Real Estate Blog Gets Jump on National Release of 2009 Zagat Information
July 22nd, 2008 Categories: Dining Favorites
On Thursday, July 17, we bought a copy of the 2009 Zagat Guide for Washington, DC and Baltimore at our local book store.
On Sunday, July 20, we roamed Alexandria taking pictures of the eight local restaurants that were being named as new additions to the guide.
On Monday, July 21, we wrote our post, added the pictures of the new eateries and published it for all our readers.
AND YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED NEXT!
Yesterday afternoon (Monday) we got a call from the Zagat offices in New York City asking us to take our post down. Seems there was a “national media embargo” in place until Wednesday, July 23.
This perplexed us.
It’s not like we had hijacked a delivery truck or slipped a carton off a loading dock or broken into the receiving room of the book store. The books were out, front and center, waiting to be purchased.
They were also available on line through several sources. The information was already in the public domain. Why should we remove our post? We were just fulfilling our mission of writing for and about Alexandria.
We thought about it for a while and then we politely declined. Would they have asked Matt Drudge or Arianna Huffington to remove a post? I don’t think so!
So folks, just thought you would like to know that you heard it here first - our modest blog (although we have readers from all 50 states and numerous countries around the world) “scooped” local and national media to bring you local information as it became available.
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Ummmmmmm, wonder what story we can “break” next?
Michael
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Hello Michael, Way to Go! That is incredible that you were able to post prior to Zagat posting their picks. It just goes to show you how important your blog is in the big picture, and how important it is to keep it updated. I also reward you for declining to remove your post. Our country was built on free speach, and considering the name of your blog and the area you cover, people should recongize those rights. Keep up the great job and I look forward to future blogs.
David
Hey David -
They were really quite nice about it and I’m sure the call to us fell to an intern who was just doing what she was told. Still, we got a kick out of it. I confess to calling several of my professional journalist friends for their take on the matter and they too encouraged us to keep it posted. National security is one thing, restaurant reviews are another!
Thanks for checking in on us.
Michael
[...] of everyone else that Zagat’s publicity department actually called and asked us to take our post down. We politely [...]