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True story?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by YankeeFan, Jul 8, 2015.

  1. Double Down

    Double Down Well-Known Member

    Here is a link to his actual site. The one I linked in the previous post is someone who aggregated their favs (and now that I think about it, probably is committing a copyright violation). Some of them are really powerful.

    http://www.humansofnewyork.com/archive/2015/
     
  2. sgreenwell

    sgreenwell Well-Known Member

    My suspicion would be that he "sweetens" the statements a bit. Like, factually accurate, but he's cutting out the hemming and hawing, and making it into (at times) a fully-formed and articulate paragraph. I mean, I realize it's New York City vs. the small Rhode Island town that's my coverage area, but some of those statements he's getting just seem too long and focused to not be refined up a bit.

    Re: This specific one, it doesn't strike me as being that out of line with a bunch of other ones he's posted. It just has the added connection of Hilary and gay rights, so I guess that's why it has attracted way more of a fervor.
     
  3. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    One of the funniest double-takes I've seen was at a bar when I was in college, and, for whatever reason, the DJ played the song. This group of girls started cheering and singing it, then, when they realized what the lyrics were, suddenly stopped.
     
  4. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    1. It's New York. Anything is possible.

    2. Could be his family. Could be other kids. 13 is a really shitty age to be.

    3. Maybe the kid already outed himself, and has been having problems, which is why he was crying. Maybe his parents wouldn't have agreed to it, which is why the kid did it.

    4. Trump has a name, and would get much bigger ratings than an unknown kid who suddenly went viral. Besides, if Cooper bumped the already-scheduled Trump for the kid, Trump and his fellow screechers would be screaming about bias.
     
  5. Double Down

    Double Down Well-Known Member

    It would be weird to me if he made it up -- but again, after the Rolling Stone stuff, I blame no one for being skeptical about stuff that seens too fitting with certain is ideologies.

    The objection from Rush et al is quite clearly motivated less by journalistic skepticism and more by the denial that a kid so young could decide he's gay and share distress over those feelings with total strangers who would then respond with kindness and empathy instead of scorn and judgment. We can all be thankful Ann Coulter didn't dream up HONY and meet this kid and respond by giving him an atomic wedgie.

    All that said, are kids that young really sharing their sexuality fears with a stranger who walks up and asks to take a pic? That seems like a big stretch.

    On the other hand, if you make it up and it goes viral (which lots of HONY pics do) wouldnt the kids parents blow it up almost immediately?
     
  6. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    YF, some skepticism is warranted here, but there's a better chance of this kid being legit than there is that Lynne Russell and her husband capped that guy as the result of a surprise attack in their hotel room.
     
    YankeeFan likes this.
  7. JackReacher

    JackReacher Well-Known Member

    Thanks for the links. Never seen that until today. Pretty damn cool.
     
  8. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    Some are speculating that the whole thing, including her post, was a set-up. You're taking a mild shot at credibility there, likely to set up a less subtle one. It's what you do.
     
    sgreenwell likes this.
  9. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    I've been thinking about this post since I saw it here late last night.

    How do you know he has a great track record? How do you know he deserves the benefit of the doubt? Has his work been independently evaluated? Confirmed? What's his background? I don't exactly doubt you, but I do want to know more. Didn't Sabrina Erdely have a great track record, until she didn't? Stephen Glass?

    I see the photos Facebooked from time to time, but didn't give them much thought. I think that I thought they were meant to be fiction, or some mish mash of fiction and reality.
     
  10. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. I believe what he does is true because it's what I do up here, everyday: stories of customers at the gallery. Same exact thing: photos, words, vignettes.

    Can't guilt-by-association everyone just because of the Erdelys and Glasses of the literary world.
     
    HC and YankeeFan like this.
  11. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    I wish I could remember the newspaper. Maybe the Louisville Courier-Journal, but don't quote me on that. In high school, I believe, I went to a journalism workshop of some sort. One of the speakers was a columnist whose schtick was to randomly call someone from the phone book, get them talking, and then tell their story. The idea, of course, was that everyone has a story to tell. This reminds me of that quite a bit. Of course, the photos and setting add tremendous value.
     
  12. MisterCreosote

    MisterCreosote Well-Known Member

    The one YF posted seems a little too ... perfect.

    But, as a whole, it's much more realistic and I'm much more inclined to believe they're all legit when I see the ones that aren't as polished.

    Like the guy who just says, "I need a dog." Or the guy who admits he spoils his daughter. Or the clown who says, "I'm under a lot of pressure right now." Or, "We don't very well speak English yet."
     
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