Tom Arenberg

Game time! Test your journalism knowledge and puzzle solving ability with an original, interactive, journalism-themed crossword on my blog. It’s a fun time filler but not a brain killer. tomarenberg.net/blog/2025/7/3/…

From a blog reader: "When I wrote about food, my goal was to keep it as anonymous as possible.... I feel like publications are leaning into influencer content more than caring about the journalism."

@HWHInBama Good find, Rufus. No, Dennis didn't do restaurant reviews ethically. They needed to be viewed as entertainment. As for protecting advertisers, for most of the years I was there, that wasn't true.

@TomArenberg Tell us about the late Dennis Washburn the former Birmingham News food and automobile critic… He made the News a ton of money until he revealed the truth. 😎

Wigging out: A trend in food journalism is a bad one. My latest blog post (2 min): tomarenberg.net/blog/2026/3/1/…

@ScottButtram @ExcitableBob Good points. Reviews at my organization evolved. I trusted all those writers, except Dennis needed to be viewed as entertainment, not real advice. He loved every place and every thing he ever ate.

I'm not sure "restaurant review" means the same thing at every media outlet. Maybe not even with every writer at any given outlet. I'm drawn to all food related pieces. @ExcitableBob always had way too much control over my food choices. But I also read Fletcher, Jo Ellen, Dennis and others over the years. I enjoyed them all, but they all had different approaches, as I recall.

From a blog reader: "A friend wrote restaurant reviews and food stories for our publication and everyone in the hospitality industry knew him. I don’t think I ever paid for a meal when I was invited to join him."

@ForTheCOLTure_J There’s only one possible explanation left: Ballard has a secret deal to become the Jets’ GM next year.

Dear Chris Ballard, can you, for the love of GOD, please, sign one starting caliber player from another team in FA? I am just asking for 1.

An endorsement by the Secretary of Defense is probably the last thing David Ellison's PR flack, and CNN's journalists, wanted this morning. Blog post from last week:

From a blog reader: "Scary."

CNN built its reputation on war coverage. But it’s fair to wonder about its journalistic future. The latest blog post (1.5 min): tomarenberg.net/blog/2026/3/3/…

I helped judge a national sports writing contest. Takeaways: Despite disrespect some companies are showing to sports staffs, breathtakingly good sports journalism (aka journalism that happens to be about sports) is going on. Still need editors. Newspaper websites still stink.

Monster impact on Alabama journalism and one of those guys who make newsrooms a better place to be.

#Legend Barnett took an historical newspaper and restored it to relevance when the city needed it most. Think of everything you believe a journalist should be. That's Barnett. And he's a great friend, to boot.

The Birmingham Times has highlighted relationships for a while now. I really enjoy reading them. I've always thought it was a great feature for local journalism.

DOJ’s case against Don Lemon is so bad that the former No. 2 lawyer at the US Attorney’s Office in Minnesota is now representing him against the lawyer’s former office.

UPDATE: The Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild now estimates that The Washington Post laid off almost HALF of its journalists, not one-third.

From a blog reader: "You mention that 2 things have changed & you're correct. But I think there's a third thing worth noting. The (Washington Post) editorial staff was overcome with Trump Derangement Syndrome."

@ScottButtram Well, he does something newsworthy every 20 minutes! But also, I think WaPo was looking for a second Trump bump that never happened.

@TomArenberg Tom, I enjoyed the post. You mention that 2 things have changed & you're correct. But I think there's a third thing worth noting. The editorial staff was overcome with TDS. Countless headlines & stories supporting this are hard to ignore. I also found this clip interesting.

There's no easy way for journalists to defend against a destructive owner, like The Washington Post's. But a better ownership option exists. The latest blog post (2.5 min): tomarenberg.net/blog/2026/2/7/…

From a blog reader: “Thanks Tom! Always appreciate your perspective on issues that matter to journalism."

@Roberts4AL YES, this is why. He just declined to do it until Marty Baron was no longer the editor.

@TomArenberg Why do you think Bezos bought WAPO to begin with?

After sticking with The Washington Post through multiple bad decisions by ownership/leadership, I’m done. If you can’t find a way to monetize sports and local news, you’re not really trying.