WHEN WRITERS $*)@-UP
Normally, I like Gawker's sense of biting irreverence but their non-stop ravaging of disgraced New York writer Nick Sylvester feels cruel, even for them. Here's the background:
Sylvester, a rising star at the Village Voice and Pitchfork admitted to fabricating part of a cover story he did for the Voice. The story was a look into how people are trying to play out the seduction advice in Neil Strauss' The Game (which is surely seeing its sales get a jump this week). Sylvester invented a scene where he meets with three men at a bar in New York. As it turns out, while the anecdote had some truthful basis, the actual meeting never existed and Sylvester got his hoax busted when one of the men wrote to say, "uh, I was never there."
So far, Gawker has had a field day with this, calling Sylvester the Voice's "very own hipster-Blair," and in general, reporting on the affair with a gleeful rubbing of hands (complete with diabolic laughter).
Keep in mind, I enjoy seeing the Icarus-like downfall of high-risers too but the thing is: the punishment has to fit the crime. Jayson Blair wrote for the NY Times and fabricated dozens of stories, many of them of national import. Likewise, Stephen Glass was pulling off similar deceptions over at The New Republic. Sylvester...was caught making up a meeting in a bar between supposed wanna-be players. I mean, no offense to the Voice but it was a fluff piece, probably reflective of a post New Times buy-out. Sure, from an issue of principle, it's not a good look, regardless of the specifics...but the specifics do matter.
I'm not defending Sylvester - I think he just dealt his career as a writer a death blow (or at least, he might have to start over writing for some rinky-dink paper until he can show his face again). But, if anything, Sylvester deserves the most ridicule for what my friend (who actually knows and likes Nick as a person) calls a mistake of "epic dumbness." I mean, who fabricates a meeting involving a real person. Didn't this guy watch Shattered Glass? You make up everything, including the people involved!
This all said: Sylvester = the new Blair? Gimme a break. Some perspective here, people.
By the way, I know postings have slowed down a bit but that's at least partially due to the fact that: 1) I've been laid out with the worst cold I've had in years and 2) Junichi is getting married tomorrow. Congrats J and D! (See you in Laguna tomorrow)
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