Outsourcing? In *MY* Local Newspaper?

Looks like the SF Chronicle once again forgot that there are many local experts waiting for their support. Mackenzie Chung Feegan, huh? Well... hm.

From a technical standpoint, she's not bad. She manages to produce some work worthy of aplomb once in a while- I remembered her name from this gentle evisceration some years back that had me giggling like a stoned hyena. I know exactly the kind of person highlighted there- the uninformed, out of their depth Asianesque dabbler I've spent my entire career supplanting and trying to either educate or eradicate.

But... the Chronicle needs a food critic, and she's not one.

That's okay sometimes. Successful food critics can come from anywhere. Sometimes it's political journalism, other times music, or from what might seem like nowhere at all to some. Understanding the environment and intended audience is every bit as important as the technicalities of the literary and artistic approach, and the willingness to develop that understanding is the key to longevity in such a position.

The job needs someone who can write, of course. But for a location like this, it needs a great deal more. The SF Bay is a hub on par with NYC or Tokyo- places steeped in cultural subtleties borrowed from all across the world and gently nudged (or sometimes vigorously muscled) into something uniquely local. 

To do right by such a place, it calls for someone attentive, alert, and well informed on the industry and area alike. It also needs someone patient enough to ignore the cash-heavy hype that ebbs and flows around restaurants in the Bay Area, and disciplined enough not to endorse without suitable cause.

Given that she's migrating from a Senior Editor role at Bon Appetit magazine in NYC, I'm very much disinclined to believe that last bit. So it's a thumbs down from me till proven otherwise.

In fairness though, I put in for the position myself some years back. The Chronicle ignored me entirely and gave it to Soleil Ho instead. Writing chops aside, I didn't think she was up to the very specific rigors of it at the time, and despite her critical acclaim (including a Beard award in 2022 for her restaurant reviews), I was proven correct.

Let's see if I go 2 for 2, shall we?