Another NY Times Leak - JK Rowling Rails Against Potter Review Spoiler


The New York Times has been taking a lot of well deserved guff over the last couple of years for obtaining and publishing classified national security secrets but it had not been prepared for the latest row over its pre-publication book review of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows".

The review, that gives away a few spoilers, has been met with anger by both the book's author JK Rowling and her publishers. Rowling came out swinging after learning that both the New York Times and the Baltimore Sun had obtained pre-publication copies of the book despite a costly embargo.

"I am staggered that some American newspapers have decided to publish purported spoilers in the form of reviews in complete disregard of the wishes of literally millions of readers, particularly children," she said.

"I am incredibly grateful to all those newspapers, booksellers and others who have chosen not to attempt to spoil Harry's last adventure for fans," the 41-year-old added. (src Reuters U.K.)

The outrage over the early reviews in U.S. newspapers was exacerbated by statements from the book's publishers who spent millions of dollars to maintain an embargo until the official release on July 21st.

A Bloomsbury spokeswoman called the New York Times review "very sad", adding that there was only one day to wait until the official release in book stores around the world. Twelve million copies of the book have been printed for the U.S. market alone.

She likened the events in the United States to the Boston Tea Party, a 1773 protest by American colonists against Britain.

"But over here it is blockades as usual, with the embargo being enforced unflinchingly and without exception by all our customers," she said.

 

As usual the New York Times is shrugging off the incident with the standard self centered response that is steeped in cultural relativism; they will judge for themselves if they did anything wrong and others who don't like it can take a hike.

New York Times book editor Rick Lyman defended the newspaper's decision to run its review before publication.

"Our feeling is that once a book is offered up for sale at any public, retail outlet, and we purchase a copy legally and openly, we are free to review it," a spokeswoman said.

"We came across a copy of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' at a store in New York City and we bought it.

"We took great care not to give away the ending, nor to give away significant details about who lives and who dies, confining our review -- which, incidentally, had extremely high praise for both this final book and the entire series -- to broader-brush assessments of the tone and the writing."

In the review, writer Michiko Kakutani gives away some plot details, including roughly how many characters die and what "deathly hallows" means, but does not leak the big secrets.

That's a pretty rich statement to make by a newspaper that doesn't hold the same high regard for national security secrets, which by the way, were not obtained, nor published "legally and openly".

But we see how this works. They allegedly obtained a copy of the book legally, although before the publication data. In addition, they didn't give away the big secrets, just some of the smaller ones that tie the plot together.

Are you going to tell me that the Times editors didn't know that the book was unavailable on the open market, didn't know that there was an embargo and didn't rush the review to print as a scoop? Save it.

In the context of national defense secrets this is a small time offense. But in the larger scheme of cultural responsibility toward the simplest of human virtues such as respect, honesty and integrity the New York Times repeatedly demonstrates that they possesses none of those traits.

Hermione summed up my sentiments perfectly in The Prisoner Of Azkaban. "YOU FOUL, LOATHSOME, EVIL LITTLE COCKROACH!". Now if I only had a wand...

This article is cross posted at Webloggin

 


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Rowling's Hatred

Well I think we've finally figured out where JK Rowling's deep hatred of "The Press"(TM) [look at her books, there's hatred for NYT stand ins all over the place] has come from.

Some say she was once a communist. May be, but here lately her stories have a clearly conservative tone.

Be sure to get your daily Fred Thompson Fact!

I was shocked by the

I was shocked by the ending... Harry Potter is a sled.

*****

"I'm sorry, you must have mistaken me for a clown that gives a damn!" - Sticky the Clown

Actually he is a full

Actually he is a full fledged member of Amnesty International secretly trying to free all Elves, trolls and Goblins from Magical tyranny.  His cover is almost blown by Herminie who he has to snuff out before she reveals it to the rest of the School.  But we find out later it was really a fit of jealousy because of her relationship with Ron.  Saucer of milk table two if you know what I mean.  But I don’t want to spoil it for anybody.

The only thing you should feel when shooting insurgents is the rifle recoil.

 

Thanks for making me laugh

Thanks for making me laugh out loud, Hero!

 

Oh, what happy times are

Oh, what happy times are these when a passing ruffian can amuse and delight those who arrange and design shrubberies.

*****

"I'm sorry, you must have mistaken me for a clown that gives a damn!" - Sticky the Clown

Harry Potter is a


Harry Potter is a sled.

Smokin' ending!

You've seen the spoof. Now see the spoof of the spoof on YouTube: The Clintpranos: Bada Bong

And his nickname . .

oh NO - it's RoseDude! (rosei in drag) - hey, it's movie magic.

There is no sense in being stupid, if you can't prove it! - my dad V

I'm nominating Hero for

I'm nominating Hero for best joke of the season.

 -PJ

"Trake: Your lofty convictions are another blemish on the rump of congregational sectarianism." -Tumbler 5/15/07 

Second that.  Very good,

Second that.  Very good, Hero.

Actually, I thought the

Actually, I thought the secret was that Harry Potter is Luke's father? Or is that he and Tyler Durden are the same person? 

lol

lol

Did you know that the Harry

Did you know that the Harry Potter series revenues could have fed several million starving people around the world - who are now dead, of course?

But I sure hope those 3 cute kid stars made a ton of money:) 

Gay haters unite!

 I'm sure there's plenty

 I'm sure there's plenty of trivial pursuits that we take part in that could feed the world, such as the amount of money spent on fishing, hunting, golfing, DVDs, cable TV, etc.

You have got that right my

You have got that right my friend! 

Gay haters unite!

As a huge fan of the Harry

As a huge fan of the Harry Potter series, I think that J.K. Rowling deserves every consideration. In this case, I don't see why the review must come before the publication. Let's be honest, it isn't as if the NY Times is fulfilling an urgent public service by advising us on whether we might enjoy this book. The public is going to buy the book anyway.

In my opinion, it's part of a general psychosis in the media ... they have an urgent, self-referential need to be the ones to tell us what's going on. To add a corollary to McLuhan, the media wants to be the message, whether they are or not. They wanted to jump the publication date because they wanted you to hear about it from them, not from the author.

Let the storyteller tell her story, and don't interrupt her.

Let the storyteller tell

Let the storyteller tell her story, and don't interrupt her.

AMEN!!!!!

WhatAMaroon

{YAAAAAWWWNNN}  My 14-year

{YAAAAAWWWNNN}  My 14-year old daughter has always thought the whole Harry Potter thing was kind of gay.   

Wizards aren't usually part

Wizards aren't usually part of the 14-year-old girl's realm of interest.

Bal - we're going back years

Bal - we're going back years here, and she's always rolled her eyes at the Harry Potter Apoplexy.  Her tastes have ran more to Unfortunate Events and The Edge - a lesser known staple of children's literature.

And this has what to do

And this has what to do with liberal bias?

 

:-)

"The New York Times has

"The New York Times has been taking a lot of well deserved guff over the
last couple of years for obtaining and publishing classified national
security secrets but it had not been prepared for the latest row over
its pre-publication book review of "Harry Potter and the Deathly
Hallows".

"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...

Ah, so along with the

Ah, so along with the liberal evil master plan to leak all national security plans, liberal media are trying to leak spoilers, too? Whereas conservatives never give away the endings to books or movies. ;-p

bal... I've been writing

bal...

I've been writing a book for a 1 1/2 yrs, and no leaks yet! 

The liberal MSM has become an enemy of the USA.

Is it part of a

Is it part of a multi-million dollar franchise, too?

Bal, given, this story

Bal, given, this story isn't about liberal bias, it IS about the snobbish 'I must tell the story to prove I am the all knowing news provider' attitude the NYT has.  They realize daily and moreso now, that people are questioning their agenda and the balance' or lackthereof, in which they use when reporting news.  This really has nothing directly to do with that, however, it does speak to the incredible ego the NYT has.  Basically, no one is safe and no subject sacred in their eyes.  They gave a review of the book before it was release because they #1 have the necessary connections to get their hands on a copy, and #2, they MUST be the first news outlet to get a story, *any* story, of public interest.  That is where it ties in with credibility.  They think, and sadly many people will agree that read the NYT, that simply because they got the first jump on this story, it will make it look like the NYT has connections to get 'the real story,' i.e. the tinfoil hat conspiracy theories.  People read the NYT and notice that there *is* a political spin, but because *gasp* they got a harry potter book reviewed before its release, they must be some God-like entity that must also be infallible in its reports in all other areas as well.

 

Perhaps that's a bit paranoid myself, but even that aside, the NYT only did this to prove one thing.  "We're better and more privledged than you.  That's what gives us the right to tell you what you should think.'

If the NYT did that with

If the NYT did that with all "hot" movies and books over the past, say, 15-20 years, then you'd have a case.

I would add #3 to your

I would add #3 to your otherwise excellent list:  they did it to make money.

If you people had just kept buying their damn paper and their circulation numbers hadn't dropped, we wouldn't have to be going through this ...

Well more of a ruckus is

Well more of a ruckus is being made over the spoiler than the national security plans. The(you?) libs have a strange set of priorities don't you think?

"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...

I don't think this says

I don't think this says anything other than a reviewer screwed up and the publisher isn't happy. That's all.

Well balboa, it's obvious

Well balboa, it's obvious you can't see a liberal bias conspiracy if it bit you on the tush. Just open your eyes Amigo! :-)

"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...

I'm not sure the liberal

I'm not sure the liberal "conspiracy" extends to movie and book spoilers. I know it's very embedded into everything, but...

I agree with the post

I agree with the post above. This is less to do about "bias" and more to do about snobbery and general suckiness.

Be sure to get your daily Fred Thompson Fact!

DO TOO!

sshh - the butler did it. (in the pantry, with a spanner)

There is no sense in being stupid, if you can't prove it! - my dad V

in the pantry, with a


in the pantry, with a spanner

HaHa! FastEd, you must be a bloody limey!! "pantry", "spanner!" haha!

"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...

Hi Bal - plenty,

Harry secretly works for the CIA via MI6 and has been outed.

There is no sense in being stupid, if you can't prove it! - my dad V

Maybe the Justice Dept will

Maybe the Justice Dept will do something about the NYT's now!

bal, C'mon. You have to


bal,

C'mon. You have to at least admit that this was a pretty cheesy thing for them to do. This is almost as bad as if they told little children that Santa Clause doesn't exist, or that there is no such thing as the tooth fairy, or.....or....

Dang, it was just wrong.

Help Fred defeat the RINOs, along with the Hitllary-Obama Axis, & win the White House in '08.

Absolutely. I HATE when I

Absolutely. I HATE when I read a movie review and it gives away the ending. I totally found out the secret to Sixth Sense before I saw it.

When a movie I really want to see is coming out (Indiana Jones pt 4, for example), I go out of my way to avoid all articles.

RE: And this has what to do with liberal bias?

It has less to do with liberal bias than it does the general attitude of the NY Times.

From a liberal attitude perspective I was focusing on the responsibility aspect and the Times attitude that everything is fair game as long as "they feel" OK with their actions. This is where I was going with the cultural relativism angle. The acceptance of their actions is only judged within their inner circle of like minded peers; the rest of the world be damned.

Not that this is an exclusively liberal trait. But I feel that the blow off attitude is more prevalent in those circles and may be a product of liberalism in general. - Trip

 

You guys focus waaaay too

You guys focus waaaay too much on the word "feel," first of all.

I think you saw another way to squeeze in a criticism of one of your favorite targets and went for it.

I'm going to agree with you

I'm going to agree with you here.  No true bias, just the usual condescension and sense of entitlement on display. 

The NYT

The NYT has shown us, yet again, that they have absolutely no scruples whatsoever.

And I am not buying their assertion that they stumbled accross a copy in a New York bookstore, either.

Then again, I'm also not buying their rag of a newspaper, either.

Help Fred defeat the RINOs, along with the Hitllary-Obama Axis, & win the White House in '08.

Not being in the know about

Not being in the know about this, but I thought the NY Times did book reviews on Sunday.  Why rush this one, unless it was to leak. 

/*-/*-/*-/*-/*-/*-/*-/*-/*-

With Democrat revisionist history and liberals guaranteeing the future (global warming, nuclear destruction, etc.) only the future is certain; the past is always changing.

 

Who cares that Dumbledore dies?

Not me