Other Crap

M.I.A. releases phone number of New York Times writer Lynn Hirschberg

The reporter said, "It's a fairly unethical thing to do."

Eh - no. The SUBJECTS of journalism are not required to abide by journalistic ethics. M.I.A. followed the ethics of gangsta rap, which are presumably somewhat different. As for the journalist - hey ... enter their world, live in their world. You're lucky she's only a rapper. The worst she can do is give out your personal info and tell the whole world you're a connivin', lyin' scumbag in a few songs and interviews. It could be much worse. Why not write a really negative piece about the prophet Mohammad and see how that works out for ya.

By the way, M.I.A. totally schooled the reporter on the "fair reporting" issue. The reporter's article contrasted M.I.A.'s radical politics with her eating a truffle-flavored french fry when they had lunch together. M.I.A. produced a tape of the conversation in which she demonstrated that the reporter ordered the fries!

In other words, the reporter ordered some sybaritic crap for the two of them, then wrote a scathing comment about M.I.A eating some of it! Do you have any sympathy for the reporter? Talk about getting your just desserts (or in this case just appetizers.)

There is an important lesson in here for all of you. ALWAYS tape the conversation when you are being interviewed, whether live or on the phone. Reporters will regularly misreport even the simplest, clearest facts. They will also misinterpret facts either intentionally or because they are just plain dense. They almost always miss the main point because they are trying to cobble your words into their preconceived ideas. When you subsequently call them on their bullshit, they will either offer a weaselly non-responsive answer or an outright lie. But if you tape the conversation, and tell them you are taping it, two things will happen: (1) they will be more careful because you will have stripped the outright lie from their arsenal; (2) they will probably still screw up (because reporters are even dumber than actors), and when they do, you will hold the winning hand.

(Actually, I have to be honest and say that it's more fun to tape the conversation and NOT tell them!)

Don't go thinking, "Oh, he's just ranting." You don't have to believe me. Just make the tape. I offer a 100% guarantee that you will thank me later.