http://www.ericdsnider.com/blog/2007/07/08/snide-remarks-10th-anniversary-feature-a-timeline-of-important-columns-part-3/ Eric D. Snider's blog. Fri, 18 May 2012 02:42:11 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.ericdsnider.com/blog/2007/07/08/snide-remarks-10th-anniversary-feature-a-timeline-of-important-columns-part-3/comment-page-1/#comment-217289 Phil Day Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:38:35 +0000 http://www.ericdsnider.com/blog/2007/07/08/snide-remarks-10th-anniversary-feature-a-timeline-of-important-columns-part-3/#comment-217289 I'm a journalist and have enjoyed reading about your experience. I'm coming to this well after the fact (nothing ever dies on the Internets) but wanted to tell you about my own experience with junket whoredom. I was working in western Canada and got an invitation to attend the opening of a theme park at a new giant shopping mall. The company that contacted me offered to pay my way and put me up in a hotel before enjoying the new rides etc. I was working on a very small newspaper at the time and although my J-school experience told me this was wrong, I mentioned it to my editor and he agreed that I could go. So I went, along with quite a few others (my memory is that there were perhaps 50 journalists there). The opening was a pretty big deal, since the new mall was going to be the biggest in the world and the theme park had lots of unique attractions; submarines, an indoor roller coaster etc. Anyway, I stayed in a nice hotel and when I arrived at the mall the next morning, I met a nice PR woman who checked my name off a list and pinned a badge on me, one of those Hello My Name Is things. Things began to get strange after that. Although there were people from some fairly large organizations milling around, two of the PR flacks inside were at my side almost the whole time, asking me if I was enjoying myself, suggesting I avail myself of the snacks they'd provided etc etc. I was receiving the sort of treatment normally not reserved for reporters at small Alberta newspapers. At one point I went to the toilet (partially to get away for a few minutes from the fawning PR types) and while I was washing my hands looked up to see something strange on my ID tag. I took it off to look at it and sure enough, the woman who had given it to me had shortened my newspaper's location from Lloydminster, Alberta to L.A. And the paper was called the Daily Times. So I had been walking around with a tag that said I was with the L.A. Times. I briefly considered trying to clear up the misunderstanding but decided to say screw it, and went back out into the fray with my head held high. I was able to get some good journalism out of it in the end. I road the new roller coaster, which went right up to the roof of the building before plunging back down into the tangled and twisting tracks that such an enclosed space demanded of its construction. Very very scary. Later (my memory says it was a couple of weeks but it might have been longer) when the wheels came off one of the coaster's cars and killed a couple of people, I was able to write a piece about my own experience riding it on the first day it was open for members of the public. Later in my career I was offered some amazing freebies but because I was then working at reputable papers, I was unable to take them. So my day as an L.A. Times reporter remains my one junket whore experience. I’m a journalist and have enjoyed reading about your experience. I’m coming to this well after the fact (nothing ever dies on the Internets) but wanted to tell you about my own experience with junket whoredom.
I was working in western Canada and got an invitation to attend the opening of a theme park at a new giant shopping mall. The company that contacted me offered to pay my way and put me up in a hotel before enjoying the new rides etc. I was working on a very small newspaper at the time and although my J-school experience told me this was wrong, I mentioned it to my editor and he agreed that I could go.
So I went, along with quite a few others (my memory is that there were perhaps 50 journalists there).
The opening was a pretty big deal, since the new mall was going to be the biggest in the world and the theme park had lots of unique attractions; submarines, an indoor roller coaster etc.
Anyway, I stayed in a nice hotel and when I arrived at the mall the next morning, I met a nice PR woman who checked my name off a list and pinned a badge on me, one of those Hello My Name Is things.
Things began to get strange after that. Although there were people from some fairly large organizations milling around, two of the PR flacks inside were at my side almost the whole time, asking me if I was enjoying myself, suggesting I avail myself of the snacks they’d provided etc etc. I was receiving the sort of treatment normally not reserved for reporters at small Alberta newspapers.
At one point I went to the toilet (partially to get away for a few minutes from the fawning PR types) and while I was washing my hands looked up to see something strange on my ID tag. I took it off to look at it and sure enough, the woman who had given it to me had shortened my newspaper’s location from Lloydminster, Alberta to L.A. And the paper was called the Daily Times. So I had been walking around with a tag that said I was with the L.A. Times.
I briefly considered trying to clear up the misunderstanding but decided to say screw it, and went back out into the fray with my head held high.
I was able to get some good journalism out of it in the end. I road the new roller coaster, which went right up to the roof of the building before plunging back down into the tangled and twisting tracks that such an enclosed space demanded of its construction. Very very scary. Later (my memory says it was a couple of weeks but it might have been longer) when the wheels came off one of the coaster’s cars and killed a couple of people, I was able to write a piece about my own experience riding it on the first day it was open for members of the public.
Later in my career I was offered some amazing freebies but because I was then working at reputable papers, I was unable to take them. So my day as an L.A. Times reporter remains my one junket whore experience.

]]> http://www.ericdsnider.com/blog/2007/07/08/snide-remarks-10th-anniversary-feature-a-timeline-of-important-columns-part-3/comment-page-1/#comment-44641 Joe Thu, 12 Jul 2007 00:40:00 +0000 http://www.ericdsnider.com/blog/2007/07/08/snide-remarks-10th-anniversary-feature-a-timeline-of-important-columns-part-3/#comment-44641 Wow. That bites. This is the first I heard about your not getting a job with them because of that ordeal. I think your most interesting points are (1) that WW is supposed to be an alternative paper yet obviously caved in to the establishment and (2) the two articles about WW's intentional deceit to create stories. Wow. That bites. This is the first I heard about your not getting a job with them because of that ordeal. I think your most interesting points are (1) that WW is supposed to be an alternative paper yet obviously caved in to the establishment and (2) the two articles about WW’s intentional deceit to create stories.

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