Tagged: Fox News

JOHN OSTRANDER: Telling Stories

JOHN OSTRANDER: Telling Stories

There is no such thing as nonfiction. There’s only story.

I ‘spect I have some ‘splainin’ to do on that one, Lucy.

Story is a narrative comprising selected series of events arranged towards a desired effect. That’s the same whether you’re telling a Batman story, a newstory, a history, a biography, a novel, a short story, a screenplay or what have you. What determines what events the storyteller chooses to emphasize, de-emphasize, omit, invent, re-interpret, or fudge is whatever ends or point that said storyteller wants to make.

“Newstories?” you ask. “You’re describing the news as all fiction?” You can prove it yourself. Something happens and it’s on the news. How The New York Times covers that event is going to be different than how Fox News covers it. Witness Occupy Wall Street.

The difference between fiction and “non-fiction” is that in fiction we make up the events (although in historical fiction, we often use real events) while the reporter, the biographer, the historian usually use actual events. I have read histories or biographies where there are so few known historical facts that the biographer/historian spends time speculating on what “must” have happened.

In no case, however, are the events they describe exactly what happened. They would have to describe every little thing that occurred without giving one item more emphasis than another. It is not reality; it is the writer’s story of what happened. All the events in a newstory or a history or a biography happen through the lens and the filter of the storyteller, which is formed by that storyteller’s own experiences and point of view. It may be further informed by the editor or producer or director or the PR guy.

It’s all story.

When I’m writing, two of the key questions I have to ask is 1) whose story is it and 2) what story am I trying to tell? The answers to those two questions make or break the story. I maintain it’s no different elsewhere.

Science books? No different. The events are the data and the writer emphasizes or de-emphasizes which data according to what he or she thinks is relevant.

Text books? Oh lordy, are they ever becoming fiction. I know people who work in the text book industry and what goes in, what gets left out, what gets emphasized or de-emphasized depends on the largest school districts and what their school boards want in them or left out. Those districts are in California and Texas, by the way, and they determine what story gets told. If you’re kid is getting creationism taught as a theory equal with evolution, it’s because some powerful school districts have decided that’s part of the story to be taught.

But numbers don’t lie, right? Math books are non-fiction.

Numbers are made to lie all the time. We got into this economic mess because of the fiction some people sold using a selected set of numbers. If someone is spinning the numbers, then they’re telling you a story using those numbers. In other words, a fiction.

Events happen all around us all the time. Thanks to the wonders of the cel phone, the tablet, the Internet, Facebook, Twitter, and on and on, we are constantly bombarded with more events.

Story is how we make sense of the world, of existence, of our lives. We emphasize some things, de-emphasize other, omit a ton of stuff in order to create our own story, one we can live with, cope with, make some sort of demented sense of.

Story, and fiction are not lies per se; they are interpreted reality. What we experience, how we interpret it, is all-true but none of it is completely true. It’s all fiction to some degree. None of it is the complete truth. The part we play in each story varies according to which story is being told and who is telling it. I am, hopefully, the hero of my own story but I may be the villain or antagonist of another, a supporting character in yet another, a cameo or background character in many others. Same for you.

It’s not a bad thing. Story is how we make sense of reality. The more stories we hear, the wider our understanding of that reality. Just keep in mind – everyone has a story to tell. Just ask yourself – why are they telling you a given story? Why am I telling you this one? What story do you make of it?

Make it a good one.

MONDAY: Mindy Newell

It was inevitable: ‘Evil Inc.’ on Fox Business Channel

It was inevitable: ‘Evil Inc.’ on Fox Business Channel

Some days, the headlines just write themselves.

Brad Guigar’s Evil Inc. comic strip was bound to be noticed by the people at Fox Business News sooner or later, it’s their kind of company. So yesterday, Brad was interviewed by the standard Fox News panel of a blond guy, a brunette guy, and a blonde woman on their show Happy Hour yesterday. Since Fox won’t let you embed video– I guess they really need the traffic– you can watch it on Brad’s site.

Now if you want scary, I suspect there are more people reading Brad’s strip daily than are watching Fox Business News

Eight, no, NINE reasons not to download Wolverine

Eight, no, NINE reasons not to download Wolverine

New York magazine shows us 8 Reasons Not to Download Wolverine, but they forgot a biggie– it could get you fired. At least, if you’re stupid enough to wite a review of it, and then post the review for FoxNews.com, sister company for 20th Century Fox, the company that’s putting out the movie that’s just been pilfered.

You ask, quite logically, who could be that dumb? Ladies and gentlemen, say hello– and good bye– to Roger Friedman. Since FoxNews.com has pulled the article, we rely on Nikki Finke for the play-by-play:

"Fox 411" freelance columnist Roger Friedman wrote what I’m told his bosses felt was a blatant promotion of piracy on his Fox News web outlet. Besides writing a review from watching the purloined print of Wolverine, Friedman posted, “I did find the whole top 10 [movies in theaters], plus TV shows, commercials, videos, everything, all streaming away. It took really less than seconds to start playing it all right onto my computer. I could have downloaded all of it but really, who has the time or the room? Later tonight I may finally catch up with Paul Rudd in I Love You, Man. It’s so much easier than going out in the rain!” I’m told that Fox News’ actions were swift and severe. First, Roger Ailes, who overseas Fox News, deleted the offending post after he was contacted by 20th Century Fox about it. And then Ailes fired Friedman as a freelance Fox News entertainment writer. I hear the move was done with the full support of News Corp. "He promoted piracy. He basically suggested that viewing a stolen film is OK, which is absolutely intolerable. So we fired him," a source told me Saturday. "Fox News acted promptly on all fronts."

 

Harry Potter Mania: The Final Battle

Harry Potter Mania: The Final Battle

I may have to do another one of these round-ups on Monday to get the post-publication stuff (and the reviews that won’t annoy Rowling by their very existence), but, after that, I never want to hear the words "Harry Potter" in my life again. (Above, Mr. Potter illustrates my mood.)

CNN just realized that Deathly Hallows publishes tomorrow and they haven’t run a bland “it’s coming” story yet. Problem fixed.

The Houston Chonicle runs Potter Story #5A, “these kids grew up while reading the Potter books.”

The Vail Daily News, on the other hand, files #6B, “this wait is killing us.”

The University of North Texas declares that it has professors standing by to comment profoundly on Deathly Hallows at a moment’s notice.

The Business Gazette of Maryland knows where all the good parties are.

Blogcritics has one of those “it doesn’t matter what happens in the outside world, I’m going to have my own special moment with Deathly Hallows and no one can stop me” pieces, this time by Katie McNeill.

Inside Higher Ed goes inside baseball with a story about the media coverage of Harry Potter. And then I comment on a story about the media coverage, here! Coming soon: meta-comments on my comments, and a spiral into utter madness.

Nicholas Clee, at the Guardian blog, is overjoyed to see arrogant UK supermarket chain Asda brought to heel by the power of J.K. Rowling.

The Indianapolis Star puts its money down on the “classics forever” marker.

Michael Burstein is an observant jew, and has been trying to figure out a way to get a copy of Deathly Hallows on publication day (which is also Shabbat, when engaging in commerce is forbidden). Any particularly clever rabbis out there want to help him?

The Belfast Telegram notes that Deathly Hallows goes on sale at midnight tonight. (Doesn’t a “Belfast Telegram” sound like a euphemism for something – like maybe a Molotov cocktail through the letter-slot?)

The Baltimore Sun reports on the odd people who are following Rowling’s demands and not opening their early-release packages of Deathly Hallows.

The Edmonton Sun watches bookstores batten down the hatches and prepare to be boarded.

The Times of India notes that a lot of people will want this book. Thank you, Commander Obvious.

Fox News has a transcript of the “Big Story” segment that talked about the Deathly Hallows internet leak. Has Bill O’Reilly blamed it on Hillary yet?

Publishers Weekly’s Book Maven blog thinks that Michiko Kakutani’s New York Times review of Deathly Hallows was scrubbed of spoilers after initial publication.

Speaking of the Times, only they would be so full of themselves as to actually use the phrase “muggle soirees” in a headline.

E! News thinks that it’s very sad that the mean ol’ New York Times reviewed a book before the author said it was OK to do it. Mean ol’ Times!

The Cleveland Leader has a somewhat less dramatic take on reviewing a book before the publication date.

Reuters tries to sum up the entire history of Harry Potter in one article.

The San Francisco Chronicle obsesses about whether Harry and Voldemort live or die in Deathly Hallows. (Of course Voldemort dies, silly, it’s that kind of book. Harry, on the other hand, isn’t a sure bet either way, though he’ll probably pull through, merely “greviously injured.”)

Immediately after guaranteeing that they’ll have stock on Deathly Hallows by giving a groveling, French-style apology to Ms. Rowling, the British supermarket chain Asda has announced that they’ll be selling it for £5 – roughly $10, and solidly below their own cost.

The Huffington Post apparently thinks that reviewing a book before the on-sale date is a hanging offense. Now, I’m happy to beat up on the New York Times as much as anyone – maybe even more so – but the job of a newspaper is to seek out news stories and report on them, which is exactly what they’ve done here.

The Bookseller reports on Bloomsbury’s attempts to cap Deathly Hallows returns in the UK by holding reprints until Wednesday.

The Scotsman reports on a hotel where you can get “Mrs. Weasley’s breakfast” tomorrow. (Again, that sounds like a euphemism for something I don’t waant to know about. "Darling, can you come over here? The dog’s got into Mrs. Weasley’s breakfast again, and I need a hand cleaning up.")

Publishing News is already looking past Potter to Christmas.

The Financial Times wants to know who, exactly, is making how much money on Potter. (It’s not the bookstores, as we all know by now.)

(more…)

Celebrity News: Prince busts Bill-O

Celebrity News: Prince busts Bill-O

ComicMix wouldn’t be much of a website if we didn’t do at least one story about Anna Nicole Smith, and this one’s a doozy.

Prince Frederic von Anhalt, husband of Zsa Zsa Gabor, has sued Fox News and their big star Bill O’Reilly for defaming him when O’Reilly said he was a fraud for claiming he could be the father of the late late Anna Nicole Smith’s baby.

According to Reuters, on the February 22th episode of The O’Reilly Factor, Bill-O said "Look, this guy’s a fraud. We know he’s a fraud. But let’s – what I want to talk about is – he’s done. His credibility is – is finished."

Get this. Prince Freddy is suing for "at least" $10,000,000.00 in damages because people give him dirty looks when he goes to the grocery store.

Damn, I don’t know who to root for here. I went to journalism school just in the hope that, someday, I would get to use the names Prince Frederic von Anhalt, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Bill O’Reilly, and Anna Nicole Smith in a sentence. And now I’ve done it twice!

Life is good.