Our first journalistic assignment not for the school paper came from the San Francisco Bay Guardian, where, as a fresh-faced intern, we were asked to compile a list of, well, anything. A Superlist, they called it, and all interns have to do one.
We thought it would be a good idea to publish a list of bars where you can legally smoke. Got the names from the health department and started calling down the list. Not one wanted to be included. Not even Amber.
So we killed the story. We used a thing called discretion. it was our first assignment, so we were green as can be, but still we understood that key concept. If only Tara Duggan had done the same thing yesterday.
Ms. Duggan, in reviewing DeAfghan Kabob House, Duggan apparently reveled in the establishment’s BYOB policy. Look if you want, but the Chron has thrown that little doozy down the memory hole. Why? Well, according to her colleague Michael Bauer, because this is the response she got from the ABC:
“This is just a courtesy notification having to do with the restaurant located at 1303 Polk St. At the end of your excellent review yesterday, you mentioned that the establishment did not serve alcohol, but allows guests to bring their own. This is illegal … I will be calling the restaurant later in the day to inform them of this. At the present time, we do not intend to file against the restaurant, but will assign undercover officers to drop by periodically to make sure that the practice has ended.”
Come ON, Duggan! What’s wrong with you? You’re a professional journalist, for Christ’s sake. Have you ever heard of keeping something off the record? You know how when you walk into a BYOB place and you ask the server if it’s BYOB and they’re like, “Um, no, wink?” Did you ever think there might be a reason for that?
Our first journalistic assignment not for the school paper came from the San Francisco Bay Guardian, where, as a fresh-faced intern, we were asked to compile a list of, well, anything. A Superlist, they called it, and all interns have to do one.
We thought it would be a good idea to publish a list of bars where you can legally smoke. Got the names from the health department and started calling down the list. Not one wanted to be included. Not even Amber.
