The WashPost House of Ill Repute

David, keep running that Masters pool, and add high round day money. On that banknote, I thank Ian Baker Finch for shooting 80 one year in the final round to earn back some of the whopping $20 I chipped into a Masters pool at another Augusta house, saving me from a shutout.

 

I don't know about PR hacks (the start of your post is shudder-worthy), but the readers being able to google bugs the hell out of me also, and I'm sure most of us. But that's what we get with the Information Superhighway: we have easier access to more information than ever before, and so does everyone else.

And they're not afraid to send letters to ombudsmen, or bosses.

 

The article about the PR mishap was in this month's Wired.
Writer was doing an article on Microsoft and they hired a PR firm to deal with him. And their file got sent to the writer by mistake.

I can just imagine the notes on me, if such a thing exists
* Send pretty PR girl with lowcut blouse. He's distracted by breasts.
* Is rumored to have told colleagues that in exchange for orgy, PR firm can write the article and he'll stick his byline on it.
* Be sure to invite him to functions with an open bar, he likes free food and free liquor
* Compliment on his new long hair and admire his shoes

Wow, this has gotten off-track in the way only an SportsJournalists.com thread can.

 

This is why I always read multi-page threads back to front.

 

Just to be clear -- I don't have to care if "people make it their business, right or wrong."
People can mind their own, thanks.

 

While I'm generally loathe to acquiesce on points where my employer seems to be encroaching on my private affairs, I think the Post has a vested interest in what happens in a house for which it is paying the rent (assuming, of course, that the paper rented this house for its writers).

I'm curious how this might apply to fantasy sports leagues, which aren't fundamentally different from an event pool.

 

You're smarter than that. Do you disagree that it is a good idea for someone who must write about the travails of others to keep his or her nose clean?

Again, I don't support this situation. But we can't just scream to high Heaven "People should mind their own business!!!!!" and think that's that. Sure they should. And that's how celebrities and athletes feel too when we write about them, I'm sure. But they don't mind their own business. And it is wise to be aware of this, so we don't get all haughty and surprised when a bored reader starts noting things and sending letters.

And, novelist: I would be curious too. That is why it's a good idea to have a written policy. Even if it says "Do whatever the hell you want", then there's something on paper that sets parameters.

 

Not to pile on, but people have a funny way of deciding for themselves whose business they will mind. I certainly understand the sentiment of, "I'm not going to let Joe Reader (or, for that matter, the newspaper) tell me how to live my life," but by the same token, we ignore his judgement at our own peril.

 

Let me tell ya: There's a school of thought that if you cover a sport, you have no business being in a Fantasy league for money in that sport.

Taken to extremes, a person could write in a column that such and such needed to pitch more, or bat in a different spot in the order, or some guy needed to be starting or whatever, with his Fantasy team in mind. Absurdly unlikely, but that's the theoretical ultimate problem with Fantasy participation.

And, of course, how many people in the Post sports department -- or any other paper -- participate in Fantasy?

On a semirelated note, a paper I was at was once about to publish a story about the beat guy at a rival paper betting heavily on sports, including the team he covered, and ranting in the press box when things weren't going well on a bet.

The two publishers got together and the story got killed. I've never been sure whether that was the right call or not.

 

The concern is whether it's ever wise to invite bloggers into a pool run by serious journalists.