We ADORE Graeme but this is a bit puzzling. Apparently at WonderCon, Bill Willingham revealed some spoiler stuff on a panel but asked it not be quoted, and Graeme McMillan, who was covering the Panel for Newsarama, obliged. J.K. parkin picks up the story at Blog@Newsarama:
Well, ironically, Graeme, who our regular readers know has on occasion pissed off creators with his posts both here and on Fanboy Rampage, complied with Willingham’s wishes. Yes, Graeme McMillan did as he was told. I was kind of amused by that, too.
Some of the folks who read the story on Newsarama weren’t pleased with Graeme for keeping the secret, and they let him know. Here’s one of the comments:
What kind of shoddy reporting is this. Hey.. im going to talk about a panel, but not give you the interesting tidbits.
So much for newsarama bring us the news for those people that couldnt be here.
Yeah, I’m sure I will find the information out. And I will do it on another website.
Ouch.
Interesting. It was said in a public forum, so confidentiality can not be claimed. (I suspect there is video of the panel.) Had they met in a parking garage, or if the story was embargoed, then the rules change.
How many blogsters did not honor the author’s wishes? How many posted spoiler warnings? How many more people will read the story because of all this?
As usual, Torsten Adair has more questions than he knows what to do with.
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Separately, this “I demand to know” crap is getting real old. Just about every poster these days thinks it is all about them. It isn’t. It’s about the information. And you don’t need all the information, all the time.
The next unreasonable demand will be that the writers put their scripts online the week before the comic comes out, and that the artists “preview” all the pages of their art online the week before the comic comes out, thus taking away all the suspense of reading the comic.
“Demand to know crap”?
The bottom line here is, if you bring something up in a public forum such as a con panel, something which is pretty much an open press conference, it should be considered news to be reported on at Newsarama.
If the information came from a private, off-the-record phone conversation, then it should be considered pure rumor and left to the whims of gossip columnists.
I think it’s kind of sad that a reporter is being yelled at for… respecting a creator’s request to keep something off the record. I’m all for an adversarial relationship between the media and their subjects, but this isn’t government misconduct we’re talking about. It’s spoilers. And the fanboy entitlement mentality that demands them like this is just… sad.
If a politician slipped in a press conference and unveiled something he shouldn’t then asked the reporters present not to repeat it, how long do you think that would last? It would be on CNN within minutes.
Journalism should be journalism regardless of the topic covered. It’s the responsibility of the creator to withhold what he/she doesn’t want public.
If a politician slipped in a press conference and unveiled something he/she shouldn’t then asked the reporters present not to repeat it, how long do you think that would last? It would be on CNN within minutes.
Journalism should be journalism regardless of the topic covered. It’s the responsibility of the individual creator to withhold what they don’t want public.
Yeah, but does Graeme call himself a journalist? He writes for Blog@Newsarama, not News@Newsarama.
I’m sure Rich will fill us all in on Monday, unless he decides to keep it quiet too.
By Monday, I meant today.
Actually, the way “off the record” works is that it is stated in advance and the other party has to agree to it first, not afterwards. The Nixon administrated got embarrassed over a phony letter writing campaign the White House created in support of Nixon (the letters were supposed to be from ordinary Americans, not paid WH staffers spitting them out as a PR stunt) and it blew up when the press secretary mentioned it to a reporter in a bar and then tried to say AFTERWARDS that it was off the record. Too late! It made headlines the next day.
Sometimes it can depend on what’s being revealed too. In conventions I’ve gone to, one creator mentioned a major international corporation they worked for had them do re-writes for a major movie without credit. They also said they didn’t like some of the product the company put out. The creator ask that nobody reveal spread this online, fearing they would get fired if it got out.
Another was a creator revealing planned story lines for a very short lived but now canceled series.
Were these things really worth revealing?
“The bottom line here is, if you bring something up in a public forum such as a con panel, something which is pretty much an open press conference, it should be considered news to be reported on at Newsarama.”
No, that is not the “bottom line”, and it’s funny some people see it that way.
The real “bottom line” is that Mr. Willingham sharing certain things was contingent upon everyone agreeing that it doesn’t leave the room. The creators are doing these convention appearances for the fans. Why piss them off for a frickin’ newsbite! Here’s a newsbite–Spoilers aren’t news; they’re just bleedin’ SPOILERS.
I read Fables, and I don’t want to know what he said. Even if I was in the damn room, I would’ve closed my ears. It’s not the right of the web-savvy to know everything about everything; it’s a privilege.
If you want to know what is said at conventions, then go to one and find out. You don’t even know the half of what is left out of some of these panels because it doesn’t flow well within the article or because the “reporter” doesn’t think it’s important. At least this guy was doing the honorable thing. If he wanted to do the smart thing, he would’ve just left out the entire exchange, and he could have avoided the public flogging.
Why not complain about something important…like how some convention panel reporters need a copy editor. Seriously, how difficult is it to proofread this stuff? It pains me to read some of those posts. For example, I don’t even remember the “news” portion of one article because they kept using “past” instead of “passed”.
I agree with Jason A. Quest.
“For example, I don’t even remember the “news” portion of one article because they kept using “past” instead of “passed”.”
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Misteaks happen.
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