Abraham Lincoln once said that the way to a judge a person’s character is to see what they do with power once they have it.
Right now there seems to be a new kind of insidious power in journalism: the independent reporter/blogger. In many cases, these are people who purport to run news items, “scoops,” as they call them, in a shoot-first-and-do-the-interview-later kind of way.
In most cases, these reporters have no editors or lawyers to vet a story -- either as a fact-checking measure or to determine whether there is exposure to a libel lawsuit. These items are often the product of the journalist’s agendas -- sometimes large and sometimes petty.
In their items they wing around accusations and rumors as if they were fact (even if they “protect their integrity” by acknowledging up front that this is something they “hear”). Very often, they have agendas or scores to settle. They can be destructive and dangerous -- not just to the people whom they write about but to the state and art of journalism itself.
The wannabe Murrows have become the de facto McCarthys -- carelessly lobbing accusations and innuendoes against unsuspecting victims.
This all really struck me the other day when a friend alerted me to the fact that Nikki Finke -- who is one of the most-read bloggers in our entertainment community -- had taken a shot at me in her column.
“Endeavor just signed its 3rd WMA client this month -- director Rod Lurie. I can't fathom why any agency would be interested in this nasty piece of work who keeps hopscotching reps.”
Okay, the “nasty” part is her opinion and God bless. However, before the day this was posted, I think I had spoken to Ms. Finke once in my life on the phone. It was a short and cordial conversation as I recall.
What is patently false is that I have “hopscotched” representatives. The insinuation is obvious -- my new agents should be warned because I am not loyal to agencies.
Here is the truth: Before I moved to Endeavor I was with the William Morris for almost seven years. Prior to that, starting in 1995, I was with the very cool David Saunders at APA. In fact, I was so appreciative to David for his service to me that for a period of almost three years, APA and William Morris split my commissions and represented me jointly. This is almost unheard of in the business.
So that’s it. Two agencies over the course of over 14 years. Ms. Finke is not going to be able to dispute that. She never bothered to contact me to check her facts (However, she did complain in a recent blog that when Variety was doing a story about her they did not bother to interview her.)
This is, of course, is not end-of-the-world stuff. Who gives two damns who has represented me over the years? However, what this does point to is the fast and loose reporting that Ms.
