One of the first things aspiring journalists learn is to keep themselves out of the story, if not completely, then as much as possible. "No one cares about you," is how one editor once put it.
But with only a small portion of questions posed and stories heard actually making it to print, journalists are often full of great anecdotes and hilarious insights that never get a proper audience. Also, they often like to bad-mouth each other—listening to them can turn into a gossip show for nerds. Which is why Wednesday at the Drake Underground promises to be a treat.
The group Nonfiction is producing their first show, billed as "media gossip, conflict, innuendo," beginning at 9 p.m. For just $5.25, you can be privy to "the stories usually told privately, between journalists, and over drinks."
Fans of shuttered Toro magazine will no doubt be interested in hearing editor Derek Finkle's stories about his publication's conflicts with Canada's Old Gray Lady, The Globe and Mail. If you're wondering who the CBC's most difficult radio guest was, The Current producer Richard Goddard will tell you. Jay Teitel discusses "the many deaths of Saturday Night magazine," a publication with a rollercoaster history that was essential reading in its best incarnations.
Ominously, the Toronto Star's Antonia Zerbisias will speak about "the end of media criticism (or at least the end of her media criticism column)." This is startling news for fans of Zerbisias, who already experienced the end of her delightful blog late last year, but if her Wikipedia entry is to be believed, she's simply taking a new tack as the paper's social issues and cultural trends columnist.
The event is off the record, meaning you'll have to show up to find out what sure-to-be intriguing dirt is dished.
Photo by Diva Eva.
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I love Antonia Zerbisias. She and Christopher Hume are the reasons that the Star has been by far my favourite daily for the past seven or eight years. I'm so glad she's not going anywhere, and I hope that her new column will allow her to continue to tackle issues that no one else in the mainstream media is writing about.
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When I first heard about this event, the words that echoed in my head were, "Now, over the years, a newsman learns a number of things that for one reason or another, he just cannot report. It doesn't seem to matter now, so...the following people are gay..."
Nowhere in the advance publicity was it stated that this was off the record. Are we to be frisked at the door for notebooks and digital recorders?
The press release poster-type thing I got says "All stories told at Nonfiction are off the record, and may not be reproduced in print, broadcast or conversation." They wouldn't get as good stories out of people if they didn't bill it as off the record. I'm kind of skeptical about it actually staying off the record, though. I doubt they'll be any frisking - they'll probably just assume that journalists would respect the "off the record" request.
Thanks. I hadn't seen the poster and its disclaimer. But I think it would be extremely naive of the participants to think it will stay off the record.