‘Cooks Source’ editor says internet meanies killed the magazine
The self-aggrandizing editor of small-town food magazine Cooks Sourcehas replaced the full page apology on the magazine’s website with a passive-aggressive dig at writer Monica Gaudio and a suggestion that Gaudio is at fault for the magazine’s likely eventual collapse.
A few weeks back, Gaudio put editor Judith Griggs on Livejournal blast for failing to pay for a written piece of hers that Griggs sourced off the web, laughing off a suggestion she compensate Gaudio for the work and then suggesting Gaudio should have paid her for the editing work Griggs maintains she did to the piece. (Reading the lengthy missives penned by Griggs leads one to wonder whether she’s capable of even basic editing, though, given a distracting lack of proper punctuation and rampant other errors.) The internet, pretty much as a whole, reared up and breathed fire at the not very remorseful editor after the tale made the rounds.
Griggs, not exactly well-versed in sincerity, attempts again to appear apologetic for her transgression while publicly licking her wounds and blaming Gaudio for siccing the internet on Cooks Source:
Honestly, some of you have been pretty mean. I have been busy for the last week, apologising to these business owners and helping them to get things right again. If my apology to Monica seemed shallow it was because I was angry about the harm she has inflicted on others on behalf of her own agenda.
So let me say this now: Monica I am so sorry for any harm I caused you. I never ment [sic] to hurt anyone, and I think I did a nice job for you, but the fact remains that I took this without asking you and that was so very wrong. Please find it in you heart to forgive me. I sent the check to the University and also, because so many people really need help, serious help, I am sending one to Food bank of Western Massachusetts (sorry, I got the name wrong the first time, even tho [sic] we did write an article on them).
Griggs then pretty much deflects responsibility for the debacle, as well as demonstrating that she still doesn’t understand why stealing the work of web writers for profit might make them angry. She contends that exhaustion lead to the lifting of the piece, something she wouldn’t have done if she thought she might get caught wasn’t working so damn hard all the time:
But one night when working yet another 12 hour day late into the night, I was short one article… Instead of picking up one of the multitude of books sent to me and typing it, I got lazy and went to the www and “found” something. Bleary-eyed I didnt notice it was copy written and reordered some of it. I did keep the author’s name on it rather than outright “stealing” it, and it was my intention to contact the author, but I simply forgot, between proofreading, deliveries, exhaustion.
Feeling any sympathy yet, meanies? You can read Gaudio’s response here.
