Interviewing Reporters

on Mar 16 in Flotsum & Jetsam by Administrator

There’s a scene in my new novel which involves the response the media would have to a very racy, though thoroughly fictitious event. It’s pretty easy to imagine what goes on in newsrooms — we’re forced to watch the product of it every frickin’ day — but I thought I would contact a few people to see how they would ‘play’ a certain story.

I asked three reporters and got three, “I’d love to, but can’t” responses. One guy, an investigative reporter who works in an undercover investigative unit, responded positively to my request, saying he understood my objective and would be happy to talk to me, but needed to run it by senior management.

Wouldn’t you know it, Fox News, the fair and balanced network, owned and operated by the same guy — Rupert Murdoch — who owns the company that published my first novel — HarperCollins — said nope, you can’t talk about a made up story to a fiction writer.

I should mention I’ve been treated really well by the Philadelphia DA’s office, which based on my exposure anyway, is filled with some very smart, very dedicated people, who seem willing to help me make my portrayal of law enforcement and criminal activity realistic.

As for the novel, I ended up changing the scene. Writing about journalism and reporters is really booooring.