March 29, 2009
The Editor
The editor watched all of his review writers for signs of rating inflation or deflation. He had a spreadsheet where he averaged coffee maker ratings and would call in a reporter if he saw one that deviated from the norm a little too much. Not to berate them, but just to make them justify that rating. He saw the rating system at the newspaper as a matter of trust, and he did not want to give out fours to every product that went by a reporters desk. He didn’t suspect anybody of dishonesty, just maybe a little bit of laziness and/or depression (if their scores went the other way).
