'Unethical' Lonely Planet author not really that unethical after all, though he wants us to think so for the sake of promoting his own book
This weekend, news broke of the Lonely Planet writer, Thomas Kohnstamm, who admitted he fabricated portions of his guidebook coverage, and we've had several contributers -- both Gadling writers and our faithful readers -- weighing in with their opinion. Aaron gave us 5 reasons to be outraged by this news, while Jeff White was doubtful of the legitimacy of guidebooks from the beginning. Matthew Firestone -- a guidebook author for Lonely Planet and Gadling contributer -- reminds us that not all LP authors are like this.
But it turns out Kohnstamm himself isn't even like this. His supposed unethical, stick-it-to-the-man, "they didn't pay me enough to go" actions of not even visiting the country in which he was writing about was a sham, too.
This article from the Guardian suggests that Kohnstamm -- in the guidebook publisher's defense -- "was hired to write about the country's history and not to travel there to review accommodation and restaurants."
Just another example of Kohnstamm blowing things out of proportion for the sake of shilling his own book -- all at the expense of Lonely Planet, their dedicated staff of writers, and the millions of guidebook readers throughout the world.
"It was expected I would never go to Colombia," he added.
We have a few other Lonely Planet authors on the Gadling team, so expect to hear from them, too.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Apr 14th 2008 @ 11:03AM
Carl said...
This isn't exactly new territory... another book came out that also exposes some of the tactics used by travel writers.
Smile When You're Lying: Confessions of a Rogue Travel Writer
http://www.amazon.com/Smile-When-Youre-Lying-Confessions/dp/0805082093/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208185017&sr=8-2
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Apr 14th 2008 @ 11:09AM
Justin Glow said...
That's true, Carl. And we actually interviewed the author of that book, Chuck Thompson, here on Gadling:
http://www.gadling.com/2007/12/31/talking-travel-with-chuck-thompson/
Apr 14th 2008 @ 11:28AM
Raf said...
From the original article Gadling cited:
"They didn't pay me enough to go (to) Colombia," News Ltd newspapers reported him saying..."They don't pay enough for what they expect the authors to do."
From the Guardian article cited here:
"Lonely Planet publisher Piers Pickard told Associated Press that Kohnstamm's revelation of not having been to Colombia was "disingenuous" because he was hired to write about the country's history and not to travel there to review accommodation and restaurants. Kohnstamm later told AP: "It was expected I would never go to Colombia."
He's nothing but a self-aggrandizing shill/hack.
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Apr 14th 2008 @ 12:40PM
Randy said...
I've been following this discussion since it broke like most interested readers. I've been travelling incessantly for the better part of 30 years and have my likes and dislikes about guide books from all sources, not just LP. I've also been privy to some of the comments from within the publishing circle - some harsh, some -- surprisingly -- taking a 'so what' approach. Ethics aside for the moment, my question is a relaively simple one, and one I haven't seen addressed anywhere else: Was Kohnstamm's take on Colombia accurate? Did it differ demonstrably from what went before, or in other guide books on the subject? As for the comment above about Kohnstamm being a "...self-aggrandizing shill/hack...", it's called PR - Kohnstamm knows it and apparently so does his publisher. This entire situation will play out over the coming days and weeks, and, while not as 'pressing' as, say, Hillary v. Obama, it will have an impact on the industry. I, for one, believe it needs a bit of shake.
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Apr 14th 2008 @ 3:24PM
laradunston said...
I agree with Randy. All of the publicity this is getting is exactly what Thomas or more accurately his publisher wanted. This book is going to sell very well indeed. Everybody will read it out of curiosity, whether they want to or not.
I'm a former Lonely Planet author (of 25+ books and tonnes of other stuff), so I can support the Gadling writers by saying that most LP writers aren't like Thomas - gonzo journos or whatever you want to call them - one of my writer friends guessed perhaps 5% were, I reckon it's closer to 10%. Sure there are people abusing their positions and breaking the rules, and some people at LP know that - how could they not? Just as the folks in the office know who's rocking up to work late, taking long lunch breaks, leaving early, stealing the photocopy paper, and so on. And just as the boss might choose to ignore it, for whatever reason (while he's there he does a good job), so do LP staff. But Thomas is definitely an extreme example.
I am sad to see that readers' trust in guidebook writing is diminishing as a result, but, hey, I feel the same way they do about newspaper travel journalism. I'm fed up with reading plagiarised writing, regurgitated press releases, and glowing reviews about places the journalist has so obviously never been to, in so-called respected papers. Unfortunately it happens everywhere. Doesn't make it right. Like Randy I agree the industry needs a shake-up and this could be it.
Apr 14th 2008 @ 12:43PM
Doug Murray said...
What a schmuck.
Still, I want to read the book. Though I think I'll wait for the library to stock it -- then I'm not putting the gains from my own freelance travel writing into his pocket.
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Apr 14th 2008 @ 6:47PM
MaryL said...
The reviews for Lonely Planet Philippines are eerily similar... complaints about inaccurate information, glaring omissions... this looks like a bigger problem than they'd care to admit.
http://www.amazon.com/review/product/1741042895/ref=cm_cr_pr_link_2?%5Fencoding=UTF8&pageNumber=2&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending
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Apr 16th 2008 @ 12:32PM
Molly said...
I agree with the other guys, I have been following this story and this is totally what this guy wants. It also really bothers me that now he is being asked to speak at Writer's Conventions and etc.... I feel like he should be black balled from the writing community, not applauded, because basically I feel like his book is bragging about all the lax ways he took while writing.
I am currently traveling around South America, I prefer to use www.vivatravelguides.com when looking for current information about countries down here. All of their information that goes in their books is available online, much easier to carry and cheaper... nice.
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