The Press

The rules are different here (in my head)

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Angela Lu of WORLD Magazine contemplates a story from last week.

Atlanta Progressive News (APN) reporter Jonathan Springston was fired last week because “he held on to the notion that there was an objective reality that could be reported objectively, despite the fact that that was not our editorial policy at Atlanta Progressive News,” according to an e-mail from his editor.

What a fascinating story. And it raises so many interesting questions.

I don’t deny APN’s right to make the termination. They would appear to be an ideological news website (here’s their link), and it’s no more out of line for them to fire someone who denies their ideology than it would be for a Christian web site to fire someone who converted to Wicca.

But I have to wonder, what are the rules for subjective journalism? Is it possible to fact-check a story, when the editor’s reality and the reporter’s are held to be completely unconnected? And why would anyone go to them for news, if they admit from the outset that what they’re reporting may not apply in the reader’s world?

What if a subjective journalist committed plagiarism? Maybe there’s nothing wrong with plagiarism in his reality. Or maybe the original document doesn’t exist for him. Who’s to say?

And indeed, how can the editorial board be sure that their subjectivity rule applies in Jonathan Springston’s universe? Maybe he works for an Atlanta Progressive Journal that embraces objectivity.

These are a few of the dilemmas of postmodernism. And one reason why the whole structure is collapsing.

Goofing

“Creative Writer” Blogger Award

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Creative Writer Blogger AwardAs you have seen below, we’ve been tagged for a “Creative Writer” Blogger Award. The rules are”

• Thank the person who gave this to you. (Takk (Thank you) to Loren Eaton of “I Saw Lightning Fall.” Be sure your sins will find you out.)

• Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

• Link to the person who nominated you.

• Tell up to six outrageous lies about yourself, and at least one outrageous truth – or – switch it around and tell six outrageous truths and one outrageous lie.

• Nominate seven “Creative Writers” who might have fun coming up with outrageous lies.

• Post links to the seven blogs you nominate.

• Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know you nominated them.

I’m tempted to plagiarize this, but I guess I won’t.

  1. My only trip out of the U.S. has been for a tryst in Argentina.
  2. I used to work at the post office, but I spent my time writing instead of delivering the mail.
  3. I went spelunking several years ago, slipped on the rope, and fell 30-40 feet.
  4. I used to own a Prius before the radio got stuck on Air America and wouldn’t turn off.
  5. I currently advise the next president of the United States.
  6. I can “hear” the scream of murder inside a person’s heart from miles away. (You get used to it.)

Now, who else might enjoy this award?

Really, there’s no need to thank me.

Goofing

"Creative Writer" Blogger Award

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Creative Writer Blogger AwardAs you have seen below, we’ve been tagged for a “Creative Writer” Blogger Award. The rules are”

• Thank the person who gave this to you. (Takk (Thank you) to Loren Eaton of “I Saw Lightning Fall.” Be sure your sins will find you out.)

• Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

• Link to the person who nominated you.

• Tell up to six outrageous lies about yourself, and at least one outrageous truth – or – switch it around and tell six outrageous truths and one outrageous lie.

• Nominate seven “Creative Writers” who might have fun coming up with outrageous lies.

• Post links to the seven blogs you nominate.

• Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know you nominated them.

I’m tempted to plagiarize this, but I guess I won’t.

  1. My only trip out of the U.S. has been for a tryst in Argentina.
  2. I used to work at the post office, but I spent my time writing instead of delivering the mail.
  3. I went spelunking several years ago, slipped on the rope, and fell 30-40 feet.
  4. I used to own a Prius before the radio got stuck on Air America and wouldn’t turn off.
  5. I currently advise the next president of the United States.
  6. I can “hear” the scream of murder inside a person’s heart from miles away. (You get used to it.)

Now, who else might enjoy this award?

Really, there’s no need to thank me.

Blogs, Socials, Goofing

Supposedly an award

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I’ve (we’ve) been tagged for a “Creative Writer” Blogger Award! Which means I get to lie shamelessly to you all and test your truth-detecting skills. The rules are …
• Thank the person who gave this to you. (Thanks [or something] to Loren Eaton of I Saw Lightning Fall.)
• Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
• Link to the person who nominated you.
• Tell up to six outrageous lies about yourself, and at least one outrageous truth – or – switch it around and tell six outrageous truths and one outrageous lie.
• Nominate seven “Creative Writers” who might have fun coming up with outrageous lies.
• Post links to the seven blogs you nominate.
• Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know you nominated them.
1. I have the power to drive women wild with desire (but only the desire to kill me).
2. I was born a poor sharecropper’s son.
3. I know how to field-strip a trebuchet.
4. The child I sponsored through Christian Children’s Fund is now the murderous dictator of a small East African country.
5. One of my novels is banned in Chechnya.
6. I have a secret superhero identity, but unfortunately he can’t find a job in that field, and is currently working as a greeter at Wal-Mart.
7. I’m actually perfectly normal, but this crazy act impresses the chicks.
When I was a kid in school, one of the most common criticisms I received from teachers was that I did things my own way, rather than the way I was instructed. I have not changed that policy, so I’ll only tag a few bloggers with this. Loren linked more than his quota, so he can have some of mine.
1. Roy Jacobsen at Writing: Clear and Simple.
2. Patrick O’Hannigan at The Paragraph Farmer.
3. Any of the crew at Threedonia.
4. Will Duquette at The View From the Foothills. (Links removed because blogs no longer exist or are inactive.)

Non-fiction

Editorial Arrogance

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Matthew Paul Turner talks about the abusive publisher of CCM magazine and how he was assigned to solicit an apology from Amy Grant for her divorce from Gary Chapman. The end of this account amazes me, but I guess I continue to be amazed at the blindness of abusive Christians, if they can be called that.

Authors

What a wondrous thing is a weekend

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It was a fairly active weekend, by my wintertime standards. Having received a windfall check in the mail, I succumbed to my long-suppressed yearning to replace my gaussed 19” TV with an HDTV. I got a pretty good deal on a 26-incher from Sam’s Club, and I’m stunned by the results. I had the Winter Olympics on most of the rest of the weekend, and I’m not even interested in the Olympics. I was just fascinated by the picture, like a baby crossing his eyes at a Big Bird mobile.

We also had our Viking feast, which is supposed to be a sort of Yule celebration, but got pushed back this year for various reasons. Aside from a few regulars being missing, it was a good time. I brought carefully researched, historically accurate Viking chocolate chip cookies. Not so great on the authenticity side, I’ll admit, but they had the advantage that people actually ate them.

And yes, I made them myself. From scratch. I’m very good with chocolate chip cookies, when I bother.

The big news in the literary world today is the death of mystery writer Dick Francis. Larry Thornberry at The American Spectator provides an appreciation here. It’s so good, I might have to try a Francis book now, despite the fact that I have zero interest in horse racing.

In any case, it sounds like Francis was a stand-up guy, the kind they’re fast running out of in England.

Or galloping out of, in this case.

Book Reviews, Creative Culture