Walsh's Comments Lazy and Unethical

Dear Mr. Black,
    How unfortunate that Robb Walsh has been allowed to besmirch the outstanding reputation of The Austin Chronicle's Food section with his uninformed reporting and lack of journalistic ethics ["Sweet Heat," Food, Aug. 25].
    Apparently lacking the ability to fact check or even the motivation to validate comments for his story on the Hot Sauce Festival, he exercised the utmost in lazy and unethical journalism by using a quote by me printed in another newspaper to validate his point of view. Unfortunately for him, he not only lifted my quote from a story in the Austin American-Statesman, published five months prior to his story, but used a partial quote completely out of context. As a career journalist, I can tell you this is unacceptable behavior from a professional journalist.
    Walsh never tried to contact me for his story but simply stole a quote from a competing newspaper that had nothing to do with his article, claiming that my comments were reported as a way of explaining to the press the Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival's return to "its snobby, Tex-Mex-bashing roots." After committing many years and many volunteer hours to the success of the wine and food festival as well as to promote Austin's dynamic culinary scene, I can assure you that in no instance would I be a part of any event or organization that bashes Tex-Mex, barbecue, or any other cuisine executed by our city's restaurants and chefs.
    It may be that Walsh has felt slighted by the festival since he has not been heralded as a preeminent expert on these cuisines like he has so hoped. And it's my understanding that Walsh has not attended the festival for several years, so it's doubtful to me that he speaks from a position of authority.
    Walsh's story is even further erroneous as he apparently didn't read the Chronicle story of July 14 ["Food-o-File," Food] five weeks prior to his article that I have moved from Austin and am no longer serving on the festival board as of July 1. So his portrayal to your readers offering current and authoritative information is wrong in every aspect.
    I'm sorry that Walsh has given the Chronicle Food section a black eye when I know how other Chronicle Food writers have worked so diligently to not only present accurate stories but adhere to strong journalistic values.
    Of all the capable journalists in our city, I'm not sure why the Chronicle would choose a Houston-based writer to tell Austin about what is and what isn't acceptable for our town's food celebrations. You may want to reconsider.