Misrepresentation
Kim du Toit
March 28, 2008
4:00 AM CDT
After yesterday’s piece on stupid middle-aged women, I was contacted by Jeanette Belliveau, the lady whose interview (and book) formed much of the basis for the Daily Mail article (and therefore my post).
Imagine my shock and horror when Ms. Belliveau told me that about 90% of the stuff attributed to her was either misinterpreted, fabricated or embellished by the journo at the Daily Mail.
[/sarcasm]
Here’s the scoop:
I’m reminded of this as I ponder whether to contact an editor at the Daily Mail regarding an interview their reporter, Diana Appleyard, conducted with me three weeks ago, the results of which appeared today.
Or actually, some parallel interview appeared with another “Jeannette Belliveau” who wrote a book identically titled to my own “Romance on the Road.” She doesn’t live where I live, she wasn’t divorced when I was divorced, she doesn’t speak or think like I do, but there she is, right in print!
I’m more bemused than bothered and am just intrigued with this whole notion of making up stuff they have in the U.K. tabloids. Maybe I’m just vain, or as a long-time copy editor, sort of in love with the idea that words have precise meanings that don’t survive radical alteration and accuracy is worth pursuing.
...and then she catalogs the instances of sloppy journalism, one by one.
As I said to Jeanette in my response to her email:
“Talk about never letting the facts get in the way of a good story. Mind you, I think that’s a paraphrase of the Daily Mail’s mission statement.
“As much as I loathe lawyers, I loathe journalists even more, so my suggestion would be to use Britain’s excellent libel laws to soak them for some sensational moolah as a result of the damage to your reputation. Then you can travel for the rest of your life, on the Daily Mail’s dime, as it were.”
There’s a lesson to be learned here, folks.
In the old days, the rule of thumb was: “Never do anything that you wouldn’t want to be published on the front page of the New York Times.”
Nowadays, it seems to be: “Never talk to the Press on any topic unless you’re prepared to find your views misrepresented the next day.”
Or just ”Never talk to the Press.”
And by the way, Jeanette ends up getting exquisite revenge on the foul Mail journo, but you’ll have to go to the link above for the details.
