Monday, July 09, 2007
Five (well, Four) Ways to End the New York Times
by Ken Houghton
As I said, the graphic is worth checking out. But if this is the NYT's attempt to appeal to a contemporary audience, Rupert Murdoch is buying the wrong newspaper.
It's not just that this is unimaginative (though the graphic worthwhile). It's that it is the best the NYT could do. I'll summarize the pieces, so you don't have to read them:
- The Boy Who Died: An attempt to turn HP into a bad episode of Lost, by one of the people who writes bad episodes of Lost and isn't happy to get called out for it.
- When Harry Met Davey: A trivialization by the author of The Princess Diaries. Is that sentence redundant?
- Made in Hogwarts: If you have to read one, this is the one. Likely gets one thing spot-on (Harry being the final Horcrux), and a decent imitation of the atmosphere. Falls apart at the end. This is the best of the lot, and if Mannion or Russell Arben Fox had written it, they would laughed out of the blogsphere. And not in a comic way.
- Hermione Tells All: The worst of the lot. Bloody near libelous, and unworthy of even Ann Althouse at her most Jessica-has-tits moments. Memo to the NYT: If you're determined to hire bitter, nasty people to be your free lancers, you should hire ones with a sense of wit.
As I said, the graphic is worth checking out. But if this is the NYT's attempt to appeal to a contemporary audience, Rupert Murdoch is buying the wrong newspaper.
Labels: Harry Potter, Journamalism, Mannion
