Tragedy, and a brush with greatness
It was a long, long workday yesterday, because of this. I didn't write the main story, but was called in because I can speak some (rusty) Spanish, and ended up writing a couple sidebars. Such a terrible tragedy.
And what a way for Fort Wayne to get national attention. About 11:30 a.m. yesterday, after we had posted our first story on the web about the crimes, I got a telephone call:
"Hi, this is Mike So-and-so. I'm stringing for the New York Times, and I just need to know if you guys have any updates to what you're running on the wire." [In newspaper-speak, that means he's freelancing and wants to know if there's new news.]
Me: "Actually, our reporter is still at the scene, and I only have a secondary role in this. I've heard some unconfirmed rumors but I don't feel comfortable releasing any information at this point. Our metro editor is in a meeting right now, but he'll be done in a few minutes. Can I put you through to his voicemail?"
Mike: [irritated and haughty] "Is that the best you can do? I mean, we are talking about tomorrow's New York Times, here."
Well, kiss my ass, Mike. You're only a stringer, anyway! Get a real job!
Mike injected a much-needed bit of humor into the newsroom when I shared with the other reporters who were working. We kept quoting throughout the day: "We are talking about tomorrow's New York Times, here."
posted by Angie @ 10:49 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Well...Mike can always do a Jayson Blair and just wing it. I doubt that it would hurt his career much.
BTW...I'd like to nominate "Well, kiss my ass, Mike." as the best line in the history of On the Road. It caused me to yelp and wake my cats.
Sal
I say "kiss my ass" a lot in real life, as well as other select phrases, but try to refrain from profanity on my blog. However, in this instance, it just seemed appropriate. :)
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