Archive for category Reality programs

Interviews Worth Reading: Pete Hamill

This Wednesday, legendary journalist and novelist Pete Hamill will speak as part of the The Rosamond Gifford Lecture Series in Syracuse, New York. As noted at its Facebook page, the series  is “the largest library-related lecture series in the country”. That’s one heck of a claim.

In preparation for the upcoming speech, Mark Bialczak of The Post-Standard interviewed Hamill. It covers a great deal of ground and is well worth your time reading. (Hat tip to Poynter’s Romenesko for the link)

I am hard pressed to find one quote that stands out, but here’s a snippet of one great exchange in the interview:

What can news organizations, media organizations, do to help keep consumer interest in words and images survive, not just videos and links?

I think they have to begin in high school. They have to somehow find ways to convince teachers that they have to turn their students onto real news sites, not TMZ, where you find celebrity stuff, not the endless life and times of Jon Gosselin, whoever the hell he is.

Hamill has an insightful perspective on the newspaper industry.

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Perfect Pitch: Amy & Courtney

What are the odds that some agent out there is trying to pitch a reality show with Amy Winehouse and Courtney Love, called Do Resuscitate? The closer would be if they would each be assigned a life coach, either Liza Minnelli or Stevie Nicks. Tell me you would not watch it. C’mon.

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Helping Feed My Guilty Pleasures: Live From L.A.

How many of you are like me–and find yourself watching bad TV that you sit there, thinking the whole time: “There’s something better that I could be doing with my time.” When I watch these kinds of show, I chalk it up to being a guilty pleasure of mine.

So, when I discovered that Dave Campbell (formerly the guy behind Dave’s Long Box [a great blog about comics]) was writing for ABC.com via Live from L.A.–and in particular about Wife Swap–I was happy. Why? Well Dave has a unique pop culture view of the world like myself. So to have a blog where I can read about one of my current TV guilty pleasures, Wife Swap, well it’s a good thing.

Campbell is a witty writer with some good observations (about several ABC shows, not just Wife Swap). Be sure to check Campbell’s Live from L.A., you won’t be sorry.

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