Posted 11:49 AM by Gene

Well, I've just read BLUNDER's account of L'Affaire Blair, a depthless tragedy. It further reinforces my belief (sorry to repeat this) that publicists like Richard "ADVERTISEMENT" Corliss and Devin "The Plugger" Gordon do at least as much harm as the Jayson Blairs, for while Blair's deceit was a by-product of a disastrous personal life (and thus understandable on at least that level), Corliss's and Gordon's salesmanship is nothing but raw naked greed -- on their part, and their employers'. But this fraud-laden biz will never take care of the Corlisses and the Gordons, for as Nikki Finke has written, they're examples of the industry covering itself (in more ways than one), which thus grants the detestable hackwork an automatic immunity to prosecution. Heck, even Jonathan "What? Me Liberal?" Alter admits his employers engage in selling ("[N]ews often acts as a marketing tool for Hollywood"), but rest assured, with the likes of Devin around, the marketing will continue.

A troubling footnote: In a sidebar ("Data Bank") BLUNDER is credited with two of the twelve cited instances of deception: The Hitler Diaries, and its editor's handling of the hack novelist Joe "The Thinker" Klein. A despicable magazine. (Speaking of Joe Klein, I was not aware the New York rag's gold mine that inspired Saturday Night Fever was a fake, and I'm not surprised.)