--- In [email protected], "Alex Stanley" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > http://tinyurl.com/2e7h59 > > Owner of Fairfield's Vivo Restaurant Hires Attorney <snip> > I've thought a lot about it lately. I mean, I don't want to cause > anyone distress - this is certainly not my intent. So why not remove > the article? Well, on one hand that would be so easy, but on the other > hand it feels like not being honest. My blog is an online diary plain > and simple. I write about what's on my mind when I have time. Do I > only write about the good stuff? What's my responsibility as a > blogger? What's my responsibility as a blogger in a small town?
If it were me, I think I'd invite the restaurant owner to write a response to my critique, to be posted on the blog. If the invitation itself didn't actually disarm him, and he refused, his refusal would probably seriously weaken whatever case he had for a lawsuit (which I suspect is really weak anyway). Seems to me a blogger in a small town, if they are widely read in that town, have more of a responsibility (not legal but ethical) for their critiques than a blogger in a big city because they're more influential locally. Presumably they want local businesses to succeed unless they're really hopeless, and the businesses that are the target of a critique, assuming it's not a vicious slam but a thoughtful analysis, should be appreciative, because it gives them a basis for improvement.
