Small Town Guy
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2007
- Messages
- 5,232
There's a fascinating story in the current Esquire by Michael Finkel. It's about his relationship with family murderer Christian Longo, who bizarrely impersonated Finkel while on the run after the killings. It was big news when it happened and Finkel wrote about it in his book True Story. The current story - which I don't see online yet - is about Longo wanting to die on Death Row so he can donate his organs, inspired by Will Smith in 7 Pounds.
As I said, fascinating story, well-written, gripping.
But it's still kind of...upsetting, annoying, something, that Finkel even got the assignment. Finkel was fired from the New York Times Magazine in 2002 for fabricating a person by combining several sources into one person. The magazine reviewed his other pieces and found no wrongdoing. He's not Stephen Glass. But still, should he be getting prime space in Esquire, when there are so many great stories out there ready to be written by writers who haven't, you know, disgraced themselves and the profession at some point? Especially today, with all that talent out there thrown into the freelance pool with layoffs and cutbacks, there are so many great writers who I think should get a chance with a place like Esquire before Finkel.
Jack Shafer wrote about Finkel getting such an assignment a few years ago, when he got a cover story in National Geographic.
http://www.slate.com/id/2171305
Speaking of Glass, in 2003 he wrote a story about marijuana laws for Rolling Stone. Again, why wouldn't he be on the bottom of the list of possible candidates for such a story?
Maybe Finkel doesn't deserve permanent banishment from journalism for his offense, but I don't think he deserves to write for any of the premier publications still remaining and still producing longform journalism.
End of rant.
As I said, fascinating story, well-written, gripping.
But it's still kind of...upsetting, annoying, something, that Finkel even got the assignment. Finkel was fired from the New York Times Magazine in 2002 for fabricating a person by combining several sources into one person. The magazine reviewed his other pieces and found no wrongdoing. He's not Stephen Glass. But still, should he be getting prime space in Esquire, when there are so many great stories out there ready to be written by writers who haven't, you know, disgraced themselves and the profession at some point? Especially today, with all that talent out there thrown into the freelance pool with layoffs and cutbacks, there are so many great writers who I think should get a chance with a place like Esquire before Finkel.
Jack Shafer wrote about Finkel getting such an assignment a few years ago, when he got a cover story in National Geographic.
http://www.slate.com/id/2171305
Speaking of Glass, in 2003 he wrote a story about marijuana laws for Rolling Stone. Again, why wouldn't he be on the bottom of the list of possible candidates for such a story?
Maybe Finkel doesn't deserve permanent banishment from journalism for his offense, but I don't think he deserves to write for any of the premier publications still remaining and still producing longform journalism.
End of rant.
