The RG Changes Star System, Alters Old Reviews

NY Journal notices something interesting in Restaurant Girl's column this week: without any announcement or explanation she changed her star system and retroactively altered the stars of all old reviews to fit the new arrangement:

"...she’s changed her rating system to a best-of-five stars, replacing the former best-of-four...she’s also gone back and revised her old reviews retroactively—only the stars; not the grammar. That Dovetail review, formerly 3-of-4, is now 4-of-5.

Her old scale allowed half-stars, but it seems the new one does not. Merkato 55 is a winner, rounded up to 3-of-5 from 2.5-of-4. South Gate is a loser, rounded down to 1-of-5 from 1.5-of-4."

This could be an unprecedented move, and we're guessing a number of restaurateurs and critics will take issue with her retroactively awarding and stripping away the half stars. However, the RG explains that the move was paper wide: "The New York Daily News has newly implemented a five star rating system for all critical reviews (theater, movies, restaurants,) thus eliminating half stars...I have adjusted my system accordingly as well as readjusted all formerly filed reviews to the new system in order to maintain consistency." If you run a restaurant and care about your status with the News, now might be a good time to check out your updated review.
· Restaurant Girl's Ratings, WTF? [NY Journal]