Another NY Times Leak - JK Rowling Rails Against Potter Review Spoiler
Terry Trippany on Jul 19 2007 at 12:53 pm | Filed under: Linkfest, Media Watch
The New York Times has been taking a lot of well deserved guff over the last couple of years for obtaining and publishing classified national security secrets but it had not been prepared for the latest row over its pre-publication book review of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows“.
The review, that gives away a few spoilers, has been met with anger by both the book’s author JK Rowling and her publishers. Rowling came out swinging after learning that both the New York Times and the Baltimore Sun had obtained pre-publication copies of the book despite a costly embargo.
“I am staggered that some American newspapers have decided to publish purported spoilers in the form of reviews in complete disregard of the wishes of literally millions of readers, particularly children,” she said.
“I am incredibly grateful to all those newspapers, booksellers and others who have chosen not to attempt to spoil Harry’s last adventure for fans,” the 41-year-old added. (src Reuters U.K.)
The outrage over the early reviews in U.S. newspapers was exacerbated by statements from the book’s publishers who spent millions of dollars to maintain an embargo until the official release on July 21st.
A Bloomsbury spokeswoman called the New York Times review “very sad”, adding that there was only one day to wait until the official release in book stores around the world. Twelve million copies of the book have been printed for the U.S. market alone.
She likened the events in the United States to the Boston Tea Party, a 1773 protest by American colonists against Britain.
“But over here it is blockades as usual, with the embargo being enforced unflinchingly and without exception by all our customers,” she said.
As usual the New York Times is shrugging off the incident with the standard self centered response that is steeped in cultural relativism; they will judge for themselves if they did anything wrong and others who don’t like it can take a hike.
New York Times book editor Rick Lyman defended the newspaper’s decision to run its review before publication.
“Our feeling is that once a book is offered up for sale at any public, retail outlet, and we purchase a copy legally and openly, we are free to review it,” a spokeswoman said.
“We came across a copy of ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ at a store in New York City and we bought it.
“We took great care not to give away the ending, nor to give away significant details about who lives and who dies, confining our review — which, incidentally, had extremely high praise for both this final book and the entire series — to broader-brush assessments of the tone and the writing.”
In the review, writer Michiko Kakutani gives away some plot details, including roughly how many characters die and what “deathly hallows” means, but does not leak the big secrets.
That’s a pretty rich statement to make by a newspaper that doesn’t hold the same high regard for national security secrets, which by the way, were not obtained, nor published “legally and openly”.
But we see how this works. They allegedly obtained a copy of the book legally, although before the publication data. In addition, they didn’t give away the big secrets, just some of the smaller ones that tie the plot together.
Are you going to tell me that the Times editors didn’t know that the book was unavailable on the open market, didn’t know that there was an embargo and didn’t rush the review to print as a scoop? Save it.
In the context of national defense secrets this is a small time offense. But in the larger scheme of cultural responsibility toward the simplest of human virtues such as respect, honesty and integrity the New York Times repeatedly demonstrates that they possesses none of those traits.
Hermione summed up my sentiments perfectly in The Prisoner Of Azkaban. “YOU FOUL, LOATHSOME, EVIL LITTLE COCKROACH!”. Now if I only had a wand…
The New York Times, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, JK Rowling, American newspapers, Rick Lyman, Michiko Kakutani
Get a life.
When Permanent Isn’t…
This morning’s news carries a story about permanent ink that isn’t. In context: a new brand of tattoo ink (developed under the name “Freedom 2″) contains specially formulated microbeads of pigment which break down during a s…
Republicans Who Don’t Get It: Our Favorite, Trent…
I guess We in Hell are going to have to explain what compromise is and isn’t.
First, compromise only works when both sides are willing to stick to agreement.
Second, the further the sides are apart on an issue, the less likely the compromise ….
General Andrew Sullivan Dishonors General Petrae…
It is unfortunate; though not surprising that Andrew Sullivan would have qualms about General Petraeus ……
Close call…
Bottom line- We were lucky last week. Now will air traffic controllers in Fort Lauderdale learn from this mistake or is a catastrophe just waiting to happen? Four runway incursions in a little over a year is still troubling to me….
[...] Website, The Virtuous Republic, The Random Yak, guerrilla radio, DeMediacratic Nation, Right Truth, Webloggin, Stuck On Stupid, Cao’s Blog, The Amboy Times, Leaning Straight Up, Conservative Cat, Adeline [...]
Sharpening an American Definition Weapon…
When the main leftist collectivist ideologies were written down and studied, they were not embedded in a country at that time. Versions of them were later put into play in countries, such as with Russia, China under Mao, Camodia under……
IRAQ SITUATION INTERIM REPORT - Right Truth Exclusive Direct From Iraq…
The following Iraq Situation Interim Report is posted here at Right Truth EXCLUSIVELY, for the purpose of round-table discussions between readers of Right Truth, politicians, military commanders, and any concerned about the situation in Iraq. Written b…
[...] coveHigh desert wandererPerri nelsonPursuing holinessdemediacratic nationright voiceswebloggin Jeanette’s celebrity cornerright truthright celebrity The virtuous [...]
[...] toBlue Star Chronicles, Webloggin, The Virtuous Republic, Right Celebrity, Jeanette’s Celebrity Corner, Right Truth Outside [...]
United Nations Seals the Condemnation of Israel…
Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton’s insight into the corrupt and loathsome workings of the United Nations, has proven spot-on, once more….
Love, like everything, has a beginning …….
Once upon a time, a fair maiden was stranded at a deserted intersection. Her transportation had failed, she was all alone. She did not know that she had actually arrived at an appointment, a meeting that was written in the…
[...] radio, DeMediacratic Nation, Jeanette’s Celebrity Corner, Right Truth, Stuck On Stupid, Webloggin, Cao’s Blog, The Amboy Times, Leaning Straight Up, Conservative Cat, Adeline and Hazel, [...]
to comment on the topic, if i may, nothing the times does should surprise us at this point. if the times editor gets caught in iraq, fighting against u.s. soldiers, it should not surprise us. luckily, children don’t read the ny times, and neither does anyone else according to their recent plummeting readership, so rowling has no real cause for concern.
Dems Hang John Doe…
Dhimmi, thy name is Democrat.Congressional Democrats today failed to include a provision in homeland security legislation that would protect the public from being sued for reporting suspicious behavior that may lead to a terrorist attack, according to …
The Congressional Follies Podcast…
Today’s Truth and Hope Report Podcast shines the light on Congress with a look at what’s going on on Capitol Hill. Topics covered include:
What the constitutents of Pork Kings Don Young (R-Ak.) and Ted Stevens (R-Ak.) think of their pork b…
I Blog for Fred- Free Swag!…
Reposted from Blogs for Fred. I would have blogged for him without the swag, but what the heck:
Do you blog for Fred? Here’s your free swag
If you have a blog, now is the time to join our growing coalition of savvy bloggers who believe Fr…
The Knucklehead of the Day award…
Today’s winner is Sun Kim Hun, Cambodia’s Deputy Minister of Cult and Religion….
Cows Cause Global Warming Even If We Eat Them?…
There is a report in the Telegraph UK indicating that the amount of energy consumed and methane gas released during the process of getting beef steaks to the table is more than driving a car for 3 hours at 50 mph. The study, done by in Japan includes …
[...] Celebrity Corner, Right Truth, Big Dog’s Weblog, Maggie’s Notebook, The Pet Haven Blog, Webloggin, Stuck On Stupid, The Amboy Times, Leaning Straight Up, Cao’s Blog, The Bullwinkle Blog, [...]
[...] Celebrity Corner, Right Truth, Big Dog’s Weblog, Maggie’s Notebook, The Pet Haven Blog, Webloggin, Stuck On Stupid, The Amboy Times, Leaning Straight Up, Cao’s Blog, The Bullwinkle Blog, [...]
Irresponsible Confidentiality…
I understand that confidentiality is sometimes a useful and responsible tool for journalists. That said, does this example go too far? A female survivor of this month’s violent storming by Pakistani forces of Islamabad’s Red Mosque has spoken of how….
Byrd Savages Vick…
To be honest, I can’t disagree with the substance of these remarks by Senator Robert Byrd, clearly directed at Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick. “The Book of Proverbs in the Holy Bible, the King James Bible, tells us a righteous……
Clinton Smacked Down…
I have a new hero — Under Secretary of Defense Eric S. Edelman. A Pentagon official has told Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton that questions she has raised about how the United States would withdraw from Iraq feed enemy propaganda. The……
[...] Celebrity Corner, Right Truth, Big Dog’s Weblog, Maggie’s Notebook, The Pet Haven Blog, Webloggin, Stuck On Stupid, The Amboy Times, Leaning Straight Up, Cao’s Blog, The Bullwinkle Blog, Pursuing [...]
[...] guerrilla radio, DeMediacratic Nation, Jeanette’s Celebrity Corner, Right Truth, Stuck On Stupid, Webloggin, Cao’s Blog, The Amboy Times, Leaning Straight Up, Conservative Cat, Adeline and Hazel, Pursuing [...]