Posted by Not the Guy From Clerks at bsh1-1f8.twcny.rr.com on October 07, 2000 at 20:50:52:
In Reply to: Re: Speaking as a journalist... posted by Bigredshark on October 07, 2000 at 13:42:22:
: : : A "Real" journalist would NEVER attempt to gain an interview by posting a message on a public internet board.
: : ...not that "Wizard" counts as "real" journalism, but hey.
: : At any rate, speaking as a journalist who gets paid for this, and is also still in the resource-deprived world of student journalism part of the time, I don't think there was anything "out-of-line" about the way Kelly approached this request. It was civil and, as pointed out, strategic; everyone knows Jason posts here.
: : I'm not saying this is the best way to go about it, obviously. I've posted similar things on here and what I do is wait until someone I want to talk to is online, and then I either contact them via e-mail or, if they don't have a public e-mail address, ask politely on the board who their representation is. This makes the process of finding out who to contact much simpler, and in no way intrudes on the celebrity in question since the name of their representation agency isn't exactly considered top-secret.
: : At any rate, as far as "weeping for the youth" regarding e-mail interviews, that's just stupid. There are a lot of cats out there who don't want to give out their phone numbers or meet you face-to-face, in case you're a nutty fanboy instead of an actual writer. E-mail is a great thing for journalists to utilize in getting interviews, and it's used in the private sector extensively.
: : For example, Wizard: The Comics Magazine (circulation roundabout 250,000 a month) doesn't even TRY to contact certain creators via telephone, because said creators find it intrusive and flat-out PREFER e-mail. Many people also like to conduct e-mail interviews because even though it's not as professional or interactive, there's no chance of getting a misquote.
: : This is a really stupid argument to begin with; Kelly stepped outside of the ideal practice, but in no way violated any kind of code or anything. At least none that I'm aware of. And Bigredshark took it upon himself to overreact, rant and rave, and generally start a fight where a simple "Don't you think Jason might like to be left alone?" would have served just perfectly. You didn't need to be involved in this discussion, and neither did I...but at a certain point I have to feel pity for Kelly seeing as she's one of our own.
: : By the way: Obviously there's something wrong with the journalism you studied if they didn't teach you to use all the resources you have at your disposal. Hesitating to use the Internet becuase nobody TOLD you how to use it "appropriately" is just another way of hamstringing yourself and coming up with excuses as to why your articles probably sucked when you were in college.
: : Finest kind,
: : Russ the seriously agitated Wiz Kid
:
: How do you know that this is actually *me* replying to you???