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You can be a Pulitzer nominee -- just like Buster Olney

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by inthesuburbs, Mar 27, 2010.

  1. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    inthesuburbs is correct. It's misleading. Kindred's "entered by the NYT for Pulitzers in...." would be really strained, imho. It's still Olney's employer mailing a check and an application and him not becoming a finalist. All that forced "honor"--"entered by the NYT for Pulitzers in...."--really would amount to is straining to tell people that Olney was a really good beat writer, who wrote for an excellent newspaper, which thought enough about his work to enter him in a prestigious contest. Would seem really forced to me--even if it isn't misleading, the way it currently is.
     
  2. deskslave

    deskslave Active Member

    OK, its's argument is pretty ridiculous and petty, but the argument here is just absurd. You're telling me (a) Olney doesn't know what's in his own bio and (b) doesn't have the cachet to tell whoever wrote it to change it? Olney might not have had active involvement, but it wouldn't be happening without his consent, implicit or explicit.
     
  3. Dave Kindred

    Dave Kindred Member

    Yeah, but I strain in 6 words, not 26.... :)
     
  4. Alma

    Alma Well-Known Member

    No more so than simply working at The New York Times.

    Honestly - and shit, I have no dog in the fight - this isn't any different than a reporter giving some coach a pass because he works at Alabama instead of UAB. Whatever Person A has accomplished, it should be willfully misconstrued, then allowed because of prior reputation.
     
  5. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    But that's because you are man of quality. ... I'm a man of quantity! :)
     
  6. Shaggy

    Shaggy Guest

    I'm a big Olney fan, and feel like he should be above this hollow pimping of his career.

    It's good enough on its own.
     
  7. dooley_womack1

    dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

    An A for self-awareness (unless it was a double entendre, then I don't wanna know)
     
  8. Lugnuts

    Lugnuts Well-Known Member

    Really? I think it kind of does a disservice to the people who really were nominated for a Pulitzer. I know someone who was - not for sports - but I think it's pretty special that she can call herself a nominee.

    The public probably wouldn't understand the difference... and that's important.

    On another note, I did have a situation where somebody else wrote a bio for me, and he completely fucked it up. It was embarrassing because he overstated something. It was sent in a press release to local media, and it got printed wrong in the paper. I still get really upset just thinking about it.
     
  9. Blitz

    Blitz Active Member

    It's certainly misleading and Buster should look at it, question it, and fix it.
    His time, I'm guessing, is not completely eaten up that he can't Google himself once in a while and see what's out there.
    Buster does good work and I like his stuff usually, but this is something that's misleading and could be attended to.
     
  10. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    Why would the Pulitzer committee choose something as confusing as "nominated finalist?"

    "Nominated" and "finalist" are near opposites, in fact.

    Are "Nominated Finalists" somehow different than "Finalists?" If so, lots of publishers are going to have to change those gold foil stickers on the front of all those books.
     
  11. rmanfredi

    rmanfredi Active Member

    He probably needs the express written consent of Major League Baseball before changing his bio.
     
  12. inthesuburbs

    inthesuburbs Member

    I'm sure you're relieved to know that Buster is no longer a Pulitzer nominee.

    ESPN's PR department now says that being an entrant is worth mentioning in your biography:

    "Olney has twice been submitted by his newspapers for Pulitzer Prize consideration in general beat reporting (not specific to sports) - Baltimore Sun, 1997; New York Times, 1998."

    http://www.espnmediazone3.com/us/2009/11/olney_buster./
     
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