I have decided to end my already-tenuous association with Phillyist, the blog for which I was a writer. I’d like to say that the reasons are many, but really there’s just one: They now require their writers to indemnify them fully against slander and libel charges. What that means is that if someone should sue Phillyist for something that I said, like “Your food made me sick!”, I would be legally and financially responsible.

Now, the editors (disclaimer: One of them, Star Foster, writes for me here at Bitter Quill) assure me that the Gothamist Network (the folks that run all of the “-ist” blogs) management only included that language because of their lawyer, and they will in fact be happy to defend me against any potential legal difficulties that arise. While I don’t doubt the editors’ earnest intentions, I also don’t have great faith in Gothamist’s continued selflessness. If they had no intention of ever leaving me in the lurch, they wouldn’t have included the language in their disclaimer.

On the one hand, I stand by what I write, and accept responsiblity for my own actions. On the other, I’ll be damned if I’ll provide Gothamist with content that helps their network grow, all the while hanging my own neck on the line, for a measly two bucks a post. After all, I’m not exactly always nice in my reviews. The last thing I need is some irate restauranteur with more cash than sanitary kitchen safeguards siccing a pack of suits on me because I write about how his restaurant made me sick in a public forum.

Does this mean that the Cranky Cocktail is dead? Not necessarily. I may revive him at some point in the future — he’s practically begging for his own blog. In the meantime, I’ll be concentrating on my other writing projects, and my other blogging gig.

Hmmm. I wonder if the Phillyist editors (at least two of them read this blog) will link to this post in their regular local blog roundup feature? I think it would be awfully courageous of them if they did.