Thomas Kohnstamm also claims in a new book that he accepted free travel, in contravention of the company's policy. His revelations have rocked the travel publisher, which sells more than six million guides a year.

Mr Kohnstamm, whose book is titled Do Travel Writers Go To Hell?, said yesterday that he had worked on more than a dozen books for Lonely Planet, including its titles on Brazil, Colombia, the Caribbean, Venezuela, Chile and South America. In one case, he said he had not even visited the country he wrote about. "They didn't pay me enough to go Colombia," he said. "I wrote the book in San Francisco. I got the information from a chick I was dating -- an intern in the Colombian Consulate. "They don't pay enough for what they expect the authors to do."

An email to management, posted on the company's authors' forum, describes Mr Kohnstamm's book as "a car crash waiting to happen". "Why did you (management) not understand that when you hire a constant stream of new, unvetted people, pay them poorly and set them loose, that someone, somehow was going to screw you?" author Jeanne Oliver wrote. Ms Oliver, an experienced travel writer having written for Lonely Planet on eastern Europe, France, Germany and Greece, admitted to sending the email, but did not wish to comment further. Other writers believe some practices described in the book are widespread. Lonely Planet forbids their authors from accepting gifts or discounts.

The Irish News must pay £25,000 plus court costs to a west Belfast Italian restaurant owner after a jury found a food critic's review to be defamatory. Journalist Caroline Workman's August 2000 review criticised the quality of food and drink, the staff and the smoky atmosphere in the Kennedy Way premises. Owner Ciarnan Convery claimed the article was a "hatchet job".

The newspaper pleaded justification and fair comment. It will appeal the jury's unanimous defamation verdict. Mr Convery's legal team claimed at Belfast High Court that the review was defamatory, damaging and hurtful and said the Irish News has failed to apologise or print a retraction. Mr Convery, a former taxi driver who opened the restaurant in 1991, said he was delighted at the ruling.

"I think justice has been done. Goodfellas is a successful business and today's verdict has proved to me, my staff and my customers that we did the right thing by launching the libel action." An Irish News spokesman said the verdict raised "profound questions involving the freedom of the press. "We firmly believe that newspapers must have the right to publish fair and honestly written reviews, contributed by experts in their particular field and engaging in either praise or criticism when it is justified," he said. "We are convinced that a public interest issue of the utmost importance is at stake here, and we have therefore instructed our lawyers to enter an immediate appeal."

Just as they craft advertising campaigns to woo vacationers, tourism promoters spend considerable time and resources subsidizing travel writers' itineraries. Armed with free airline tickets, complimentary meals and VIP access, travel publicists around the country sponsor junkets for hundreds -- if not thousands -- of writers each year, industry executives said.

"Everybody wants to run a press trip. Every bed-and-breakfast, every hotel, every tour operator," said James Plouf, who runs travelwriters.com, where publicists pay $900 a year to advertise junkets. "We won't accept the press trip if there's not some kind of subsidy." The site counts 15,000 people as members, and posts about 200 trips a year, including a cycling trip through Ethiopia, a Hawaiian food tour and a visit to North Carolina's Swag Country Inn. The Greater Miami tourism bureau alone estimates it provides free or discounted trips to more than 300 writers a year.

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"I hate to be a cynic about this," said Kelly McBride, an ethics instructor at the Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank in St. Petersburg. But unless the article appears in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune or other major publication, "I assume the work is tainted when it comes to travel journalism. . . . I assume the judgment of the writer has been compromised by getting free meals or free plane rides."

Local tourism officials said that, as a rule, large U.S. newspapers do not accept free trips. But policies vary throughout the media industry. The Miami Herald bars staff reporters from accepting subsidies but will print freelance articles about free trips, travel editor Jane Wooldridge said.

"We worked hard to find alternative means to keep these titles viable, including moving them to other companies," says Lisa Stevens, co-owner and CEO of Paizo Publishing. "However, our efforts ultimately met with no success. We felt that it was time to fold our hand and let our customers know the final outcome."

Active subscribers can go to paizo.com and convert their remaining issues to Dragon or Dungeon subscriptions, request refund checks, or obtain paizo.com store credit with an additional 20% bonus.

"Paizo is very proud of what we did with the magazines, and we're grateful to all of the readers who supported them. We're sad to see them go," said Vic Wertz, Associate Editor of Amazing Stories and Undefeated. "Amazing Stories has bounced back from the dead a few times before, though, and we all hope that somehow the 80th anniversary this year won't permanently mark the end of the road."