Last week, TMJ4's "Dirty Dining" wasn't about dirtiness in food service. Instead, clean restaurants were recognized with Blue Ribbon Awards.
This week, however, Courtny Gerrish was back doing her Mike Wallace routine, dragging a camera into the targeted restaurant and harassing an employee.
Once again, Gerrish's target was a small ethnic place.
From TMJ4:
A Puerto Rican restaurant in Walker's Point is written up by health inspectors for violations in the kitchen.
Quimera on 6th and National. A cooler in the kitchen was not keeping food cold enough. Owner Olga Ramirez told me it's been fixed. Inspectors also found a gallon of orange juice stored in the drink ice at the bar. Apparently a waitress left it there by mistake.
...Ramirez says everything's been cleaned up, and she's just waiting for the re inspection.
From the televised report:
COURTNY GERRISH: Is there someone I can talk to about the health inspection report?
EMPLOYEE (heard off camera): Health inspection?
GERRISH: Yeah, and the violations.
GERRISH (voice over): This employee was hiding from our camera. The owner was not available when we stopped by.
I don't like these tactics, ambushing employees. What's the point?
The fact is restaurant employees and owners have nothing to fear if their establishments advertise on TMJ4. The Journal Broadcast Group won't allow their sponsors to be ambushed. It won't stand to have TMJ4 plaster negative reports about their advertisers on the Internet.
For example, the poor health inspection report at the Brookfield Perkins, a TMJ4 sponsor, was no longer considered news by TMJ4. Its website was scrubbed.
Small places, ones that don't support TMJ4 with advertising dollars, aren't so lucky. They have reason to be concerned about becoming a "Dirty Dining" target if they have health violations.
Advertisers, of course, are let off the hook. They can relax.
This is no way to determine what's "news" and what is not.
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