As of Saturday, three of my friends have been featured in articles in The Washington Post. Apparently I have good taste in friends because here are some comments that this world-renowned newspaper has printed about them: First, there’s Ray: “He's a goofball, sort of a Jim Carrey caricature.” And “He's clearly highly intelligent and really nice.”
I’m trying to keep my blog short (yeah, right), so those are just some of the highlights from the articles. If you are interested in reading the full articles, they are available from the Washington Post website:
Welcome back. What’s that you say? You say the synopsis I gave is not the same as the impression you got of my friends from the full articles? Hmmm. But I was simply quoting directly from the newspaper! Of course, just like many of you (not that there are many of you) probably didn’t take the time to fully read all three of those articles, almost none of the Post’s readership is going to get a chance to get to know Ray, Dave, and Joel (well Joel does go out on a lot of dates, so perhaps that’s not entirely true). That’s too bad because I think the irony is that my out of context quotes give a more accurate portrayal of these guys than the Post did (alright maybe not the Wentworth Miller comparison). Interestingly, I think Joel’s article was actually influenced by Ray’s, because after reading Ray’s story and some of the other recent Date Labs, Joel concluded that the only way to look bad in a Date Lab article was to be really into a girl who wasn’t into him. Well, I believe he avoided that situation… and proved his theory wrong in the process (check out the comments section from Joel's story to see what I mean).
Not that there is anything particularly shocking about a journalist selecting quotes to fit a particular slant, but I found it interesting that three out of three friends were unhappy with how they came across in the newspaper. Admittedly these examples are trivial compared to journalists who fabricate quotes and stories altogether (see: Editor of my high school newspaper—Jayson Blair—and the current season of HBO’s “The Wire”—speaking of which, anyone who hasn’t been watching Season Five of “The Wire” should seriously reconsider their priorities in life).
Ah well, I’ll keep this lesson in mind and at least I haven’t been misrepresented in the Post… oh wait! I forgot the emails I got from friends who thought I was drinking because of the photo they saw of me in the background of the Weekend cover with an IBC Rootbeer bottle…
7 comments:
Get off that Sauce Jon!!!
I'm less worried about the rootbeer bottle than I am by the wife beater. Was this an imitate Mikey event?
Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies about Skol in Guinea...and where's my old Washington Post article!? The date article was quite interesting. I wish it were surprising that the comments turned out the way they did.
Mandy, see the Post strikes again! That isn't a wifebeater but rather a two-tone t-shirt with flesh colored arms... or not. Yeah, it was a pajama party and it got so hot that I had to go pajama topless, hence the wifebeater.
And Chris, did I really miss your article!?! Somehow I have forgotten it and my search only revealed a sentence about you hosting pickup soccer. What did I miss?
As one decorated coach once said said, Journalism is "one or two steps above prostitution"
Oh, lookie here...
Hey Joel,
I went on Date Lab too. Washington Post distorted a lot of my comments and made me sound superficial. I spent 1 and a half hours singing his praises, BUT the interviewer was pretty insistent about wanting to know what exactly I didn't like. She kept asking/suggesting: "maybe you (meaning me) are too picky." Then I got defensive....and started going off about how much my date sucked and why I didn't need to go out with him. I totally fell into the trap and it was hard seeing my comments in black-and-white!
I promise, you'll get over it and everyone will forget about it.
What's your source Joel?
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