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Phillip Blanchard	Post subject: Writing for no discernible reason Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2004 9:38 pm
Joined: Sun Apr 07, 2002 1:01 am Posts: 8342 Location: Bethesda, Md.	I think that most memoirs by journalists focus on their brushes with history, whether it's arm-wrestling with that Pope or covering a war. They rarely focus on the ordinary rhythms of daily newspaper reporting, which takes up the lion's share of journalism in towns and small cities across the country. (Dan Barry, interviewed on Poynter)<p>***That's because it's not interesting, except maybe to the person who's doing it. Barry himself proves the point in this excerpt. The purpose of an excerpt is to get readers interested in a book. On the basis of that snippet, however, I have to say I would rather read a sequel to Rinker Buck's "First Job" than read Barry's book. (I was told in 1979 by a pretty smart guy that I was too young to write a memoir. I still am. And so is Dan Barry.)***
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mcarlson	Post subject: Re: Writing for no discernible reason Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2004 11:43 am
Joined: Wed Nov 27, 2002 1:01 am Posts: 59 Location: La Conner, Wash.	You're right -- workaday newspapering is not interesting to the general public, and that excerpt is pretty bad.<p>Looks like Barry's book was some sort of exercise after a bout with cancer. I'm glad he recovered, but based on that excerpt, I'd say he should have placed the manuscript in a desk drawer and forgotten about it.
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majorbabs	Post subject: Re: Writing for no discernible reason Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2004 11:51 am
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2002 12:01 am Posts: 744 Location: HuskerLand	Actually I found Susan Orlean's book, "The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup" to have an excellent essay about what it meant to be a small-town newspaper editor. Read that instead.<p>Which makes me wonder, if there was a "remarkable feat" in bullfighting, would THAT go on the front page too? (See other thread.)
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Wayne Countryman	Post subject: Re: Writing for no discernible reason Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2004 2:52 pm
Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2002 12:01 am Posts: 1775 Location: Baltimore	<blockquote><font size="1" face="TImes, TimesNR, serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by majorbabs: Actually I found Susan Orlean's book, "The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup" to have an excellent essay about what it meant to be a small-town newspaper editor. Read that instead.<p>Which makes me wonder, if there was a "remarkable feat" in bullfighting, would THAT go on the front page too? (See other thread.)<hr></blockquote><p>would depend on the story and what else was available that day -- as with any story, i'd say. .
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"This is like group therapy with prisoners in the Poynter Institute's dungeon." ... "You take a vocation that the simple-minded consider to be mere drudgery, and you exploit every bit of fascinating and humorous nuance imaginable." ... "Delicious" ... "Ask your professors? The only professors whose opinions matter are named Walsh, Blanchard and McIntyre." ... "What I come here for, I can find ONLY here. Phillip, you've built a great place." ... "Nothing gets us hotter than reading bitchy discussion threads from over-exhausted copy editors endlessly debating the merits of "theater" versus "theatre." ... "I love this site. It's better than the Kool-Aid acid tests." ..."I'm awed at the efficiency with which matters of opinion get hashed out in this forum." ... "Phil is the bomb!" ... "I'd wager that it's exactly your sort of hidebound thinking that contributes to the problems newspapers are having attracting readers." ... "I'm totally obsessed with this site. It's like porn--if you get off on Scrabble." ... "It reveals the backstage carping and vindictive emotions that roil the souls of those trapped at the copy desks." "When they say "testy," they certainly mean it. Whether it's reporters, editors, or the general public, no one is above their savage snark." ... "An apparent crack in the thin grey line." ..."Testy Copy Editors is a bitchboard for journalism's underclass." ... "My desire to read 'Testy Copy Editors' is only rivalled by my desire to pop "Constipated Call Girls" in the DVD player." ... "Phillip Blanchard is not just a testy copy editor, but a prophet scorned in his own time, and those of us who defend wordplay will be punished for it come the Judgment Day." ... "Phil Blanchard is as dashing in person as he is at the TCE board." ... "As far as writing and editing go: Read this board, read Bill Walsh, memorize the style book, read William Zinsser, and read the New York Times. That's a good start." ... "You should let go of your bitterness. You were not the oppressed talent you thought yourself to be. You were a miserable, brooding, silent, joyless grind, lucky to have a job at the Sun-Times, and we're lucky now that you've moved on to afflict others."

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