Lonely Planet

Strange Planet (part 3) or How I learnt to stop worrying and love the Lonely Planet Loophole

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By Terence Carter* Hallelujah! On the weekend Peter Munro writing for The Age in Melbourne cleared up the whole Lonely Planet scandal. Thank god that’s over. Yes, we were getting bored with it too. But in the words of Lonely Planet publisher Piers Pickard: “No freebies – period.” Thank you and goodnight! What? Oh, wait, … Read more about Strange Planet (part 3) or How I learnt to stop worrying and love the Lonely Planet Loophole

Fraud or flawed?

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Thomas Kohnstamm’s book Do Travel Writers Go to Hell? was released yesterday, and despite Lonely Planet’s author fraud scandal and the ensuing furor, very few book reviews or follow-up stories have yet to appear. Is everyone just over it all? Here are a couple worth reading: travel writer Robert Reid’s The worst guidebook writer ever?’ … Read more about Fraud or flawed?

Death of the guidebook?

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That’s the headline of a story in The Age yesterday written by former Lonely Planet writer Chris Taylor who recounts his discovery that the author who’d updated the China guide before him hadn’t visited places himself, but had sub-contracted a cafe owner (who subsequently recruited his cousin!) to do the research instead. Taylor argues that … Read more about Death of the guidebook?