Heidi MacDonald popped off with a rumor back on 3/11/08:
§ Marvel EIC Joe Quesada’s popular feature Cup O’ Joe in which he takes on fan questions will be returning as a regular feature at MySpace:
Every week, Quesada will tackle questions posed directly by True Believers on the world’s most popular social network in this brand new weekly feature on MySpace Comic Books. Like a might Marvel team-up, the online community known for connecting legions of fans with the most exciting creators, projects, and events in the industry comes together with the leading comics publisher to present your chance to get inside the mind of one of comics’ most popular personalities.
Cup o’ Joe was long a regular feature at Newsarama, but word on the street has it that Marvel and the comics news giant had a falling out over a broken embargo.
I would have completely missed it, if not for Caleb blogging about it, pointing out how she got little bits wrong and didn't really back up the rumor much. She said, in posting on his blog, that she was confident in it and would follow up.
When she didn't follow-up, I posted to ask her about it, which led to the following exchange:Kevin Huxford Says:
03/14/08 at 5:13 pmWhy no apparent effort made to contact the concerned parties on that Newsarama/Quesada bit?
Kevin Huxford Says:
03/20/08 at 1:48 pmYou posted over at Everyday is Like Wednesday:
You guys I stand by my rumor — and the emails I got afterwards provided even more substantiation. However since everyone seems SO interested in this it should be a fertile ground for follow-up.
No follow-up? Or did your sources all of a sudden seem less trustworthy?
The Beat Says:
03/20/08 at 2:04 pmKevin — give me a fucking break. You know full well what happened.
Kevin Huxford Says:
03/20/08 at 5:03 pmNo, Heidi…I don’t. You reported a rumor that you said had plenty of backup. Said you’d be delving into it more. Haven’t seen you cover it any further and was curious. How would I know why you didn’t cover a rumor that I didn’t believe had any truth to it?
I stand by that I don't know "full well" what happened. I did ask someone who would know "full well" that the rumor was BS to speak up on Brady's behalf. I did ask the most likely suspect of spreading that BS whether they passed it along as themselves or under one of their aliases.
So...does that imply that one of those two things are responsible for her not following up on it? Weird, you'd think if a more knowledgeable source came out and said the rumor was wrong, you'd print a retraction. If your source came panicking back to you asking you to cease talking about it, you'd think it might lead you to doubt them and...maybe...print a retraction. Especially since the figment of someone's imagination that you reported and stood behind mistakenly was picked up and spread across the internet.
Where's Dan Slott to question the journalistic integrity of bloggers when you need him?
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Slott and Guggenheim are too busy writing shitty dialogue for Amazing Spider-Man. ;)
ReplyDeleteAnd man, this Newsarama thing just won't die, will it? I blaed you before for perpetuating this, but clearly you're not the one who keeps bringing it up.
Eh...two different controversies. This one isn't saying I'm to blame for Joe leaving...just some other equally wrong accusation. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat is she referring to?
ReplyDeleteQuite popular with the ladies aren't you khux?
Ummm...the BS rumor that is mentioned in the blog, Frag. And...what can I say...the ladies love me. ;)
ReplyDeleteBut what is that rumor? It's not mentioned right?
ReplyDeleteYes it is, Frag. Read the first indented quote from Heidi's blog again. It's in the last quoted paragraph. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat embargo?
ReplyDeleteShe doesn't mention the specific one. But the idea is that Newsarama had advance notice of an announcement so they could have an article ready to go with it, but broke the news early. That hasn't happened.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it is possible that other sources could have approached Newsarama with a story that involved the embargo bit. But when you have a host of other sources hit you with the story, you're not required to let it go due to the embargo.
I could see bitter people with an ax to grind trying to make something out of nothing. Perhaps they were mad that the reported item took up a slott where a story about one of their projects could have run.
Perhaps they were mad that the reported item took up a slott where a story about one of their projects could have run.
ReplyDelete"Slott?" You ARE obsessed with him!
But seriously, I'm not getting the embargo thing. Does that mean that Marvel gave Newsarama an exclusive story and Newsarama supposedly ran it early?
Yeah, that's basically what an embargo is. To my knowledge, it is normally that a company coordinates with a magazine or website to let them know that something big is coming up, so they can have interviews with those involved set to go as soon as it hits, to maximize the exposure. This could, also, include having historical pieces and the like waiting in the pipeline.
ReplyDeleteSlott obsessed? No...but put that little line together with something I said in the blog and you'll get where it fits in.
I sure am glad that now that your in youre thirties you decided to get your butt off the couch and do something with your life.
ReplyDelete