Trip to Alaska
Wife and I are fairly new to RVing and wish to go Denali Nat'l Park this May. We will be departing from AZ in a 2009 Class C ( 31ft )Coachmen. Any suggestions as to which way to go, extra supplies, et...
Forum Discussion
joeb wrote:
Not only is the Church book more accurate, it is more honest. When you read a campground review in the Church book, you know it was written by Mike or Terri Church. With the Milepost, you have no idea of who wrote the review, perhaps even the business owner. The two publications have different approaches to making a profit. The Church's make their profit off the sale of their books, with no advertising. The Milepost makes their profit from the the sale of the book and the sale of advertising. The same people that sell the advertising, on a commission, are the Field Editors, who also write the reviews. A bit of conflict of interest, IMHO.
You obviously admire the Milepost as I do and enjoy it.
Actually I am surprised if you have been reading and buying the Milepost for so many years that you have missed the part on page 3 under "How to Use the Milepost" number 5. and I quote:
"Log" advertisements are classified type advertisements that appear in the text. These are identified by the bold face name of the business at the beginning of the entry and (ADVERTISEMENT) at the end. These log advertisements are written by the advertisers."
This means YOU DO know who wrote what part, they are very clear on that and editorially honest. And they are very easy to spot as they are in color bold type.
As for profit there is no way to put out a book the size of the Milepost every YEAR with updates without advertising. Advertising in and of itself is not a bad thing, it informs and is very handy. The issue is how is the advertising handled editorially. And the Milepost does it with honesty and ethically.
The Churches do a book and may not update it for YEARS, depending on their readers to post updates to their web site. This is basically telling their readers and those who support them that they are "on their own".
The Milepost is at least dedicated to this endeavor and continues to update constantly.
And to imply that the Churches have NO biases is surprising. But in their case it's much harder to discern than in a publication like the Milepost.
As for their accuracy I just got through using (their out of date) Baja Guide for 3 months and 3400 miles down there and found so many inaccuracies, dead wrong directions and missing text it just isn't funny. Editorially the Churches need a professional to edit those books for consistency and fact checking.
The Churches are good people, I have communicated with them on several issues (regarding when they might update a certain book). They fill a niche in the market.
But generally speaking in the case of the Alaska book I don't think it can compare to the milepost.
Not only is the Church book more accurate, it is more honest. When you read a campground review in the Church book, you know it was written by Mike or Terri Church. With the Milepost, you have no idea of who wrote the review, perhaps even the business owner. The two publications have different approaches to making a profit. The Church's make their profit off the sale of their books, with no advertising. The Milepost makes their profit from the the sale of the book and the sale of advertising. The same people that sell the advertising, on a commission, are the Field Editors, who also write the reviews. A bit of conflict of interest, IMHO.
You obviously admire the Milepost as I do and enjoy it.
Actually I am surprised if you have been reading and buying the Milepost for so many years that you have missed the part on page 3 under "How to Use the Milepost" number 5. and I quote:
"Log" advertisements are classified type advertisements that appear in the text. These are identified by the bold face name of the business at the beginning of the entry and (ADVERTISEMENT) at the end. These log advertisements are written by the advertisers."
This means YOU DO know who wrote what part, they are very clear on that and editorially honest. And they are very easy to spot as they are in color bold type.
As for profit there is no way to put out a book the size of the Milepost every YEAR with updates without advertising. Advertising in and of itself is not a bad thing, it informs and is very handy. The issue is how is the advertising handled editorially. And the Milepost does it with honesty and ethically.
The Churches do a book and may not update it for YEARS, depending on their readers to post updates to their web site. This is basically telling their readers and those who support them that they are "on their own".
The Milepost is at least dedicated to this endeavor and continues to update constantly.
And to imply that the Churches have NO biases is surprising. But in their case it's much harder to discern than in a publication like the Milepost.
As for their accuracy I just got through using (their out of date) Baja Guide for 3 months and 3400 miles down there and found so many inaccuracies, dead wrong directions and missing text it just isn't funny. Editorially the Churches need a professional to edit those books for consistency and fact checking.
The Churches are good people, I have communicated with them on several issues (regarding when they might update a certain book). They fill a niche in the market.
But generally speaking in the case of the Alaska book I don't think it can compare to the milepost.
