Once upon a time, our readers sacrificed blood, sweat, tears and valuable REM cycles at the news altar - so much so that one of them (who majored in journalism) sold her soul to broadcasting gods and sponsors, while the other (who majored in English) took a job as an editor for a public-relations firm. Along the way, they met all sorts of characters that we swear we thought would never have existed in real life: for every mentor and sidekick who treated us with pure compassion, there were all sorts of mean beasties, deceptive lotharios, and just plain temperamental archetypes that would've been right at home in the imaginations of, say, Neil Gaiman or
H.P. Lovecraft, to say the least of The Brothers Grimm.
You'd think that would've lured us away from reading books about the profession that we so simultaneously love and hate, but noooooo. Far from it, in fact - we've found that good writing sometimes has nothing to do with good journalism... and the world may actually be a better place for that.
The Scribe: It's a blood-sucking business, all right.
1) Favorite local newspaper columnist: Bias alert!
Gen Suzuki, of course, for Honolulu. I have to also mention the totally awesome writer/editor behind
Culture Jamming for that one weekly.;) Hometown fav:
Jessica Zafra.
2) Least favorite local newspaper columnist: I'm really not into local gossip columns - especially in Manila - probably because I'm so out of it, I really don't recognize any of the names/insinuations to join in the fun!
3) Favorite nationally-syndicated columnist: Me so shallow: Ted Casablanca. If we're going to go by regular reading (since the late 90s), Casablanca's
Awful Truth definitely fits the bill.
4) Least favorite nationally-syndicated columnist: I couldn't name one specifically - the more conservative ones, definitely make my teeth ache.
5) Favorite book written by a broadcast journalist: I cheat by mentioning fiction -
Fangland by John Marks of
60 Minutes. Vampirism and broadcasting...quite a good read, I must say. I haven't read
Baba Wawa's Audition yet, so I cannot offer an opinion (though I am DYING to learn more about
The View cat fights from a primary source!).
6) Least favorite book written by a broadcast journalist: It's hard for me to slam any of these memoirs, because all the ones I've read so far have been so well-written.
7) Broadcast journo you wish would write a book, already: Christiane Amanpour needs to write her memoirs - she was always my broadcast idol.
8) Which existing comic strip would you like to see in compiled anthology form? House of Mao, from Singapore - I cannot find the shorter anthologies any more. I would love to buy the compilation if it exists.
9) Which comic strip series/artist would you like to put out of their misery? Garfield, I'm sorry...but it's just not funny anymore.
10) If you came across a book by a journo whose political affiliations were different from yours, what will actually motivate you to read that book? Curiosity, most definitely - I have no problem reading different points of view.
Meimei: Olberfan-girl Since 1997... and proud of it, sort of.
1) Favorite local newspaper columnist: Because I live in Honolulu (and can’t relate to the dailies in Manila any more – although Zafra and RJ Ledesma both get my vote):
Charles Memminger of the
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, and
Wanda Adams of the
Honolulu Advertiser.
2) Least favorite local newspaper columnist: I will go on the record and say that I have demanded the immediate retirement of
Wayne Harada for the last 12 years. Seriously, the man’s not getting any younger – his writing has gotten very cliché as of late, and rumor has it that a few slebs that get bold-faced in his columns are getting tired of him, as well.
3) Favorite nationally-syndicated columnist: Ten years ago I would’ve answered
Dave Barry, but his writing has gotten rusty lately.
Roger Ebert, on the other hand, has been anything but rusty in spite of his health problems, and his film reviews are always fun to read.
4) Least favorite nationally-syndicated columnist: My list is pretty damn long for this, especially since the
MidWeek does a great job of compiling all of my most hated journalist frenemies into one paper. Two of them in particular:
Michelle Malkin (shut up, humorless conservative who brings shame to most Filipinos) and
Amy Alkon (shut up, desperate but rapidly aging Carrie Bradshaw wannabe)
5) Favorite book written by a broadcast journalist: Before
Keith Olbermann became a
self-inflating,
anti-conservative talking head, he and Dan Patrick co-wrote the hilarious ESPN tribute
The Big Show, which I read obsessively as a college freshman. It’s too bad, then, that I have yet to read a
SportsCenter tell-all that effectively measures up to this one… just as I have yet to meet an ESPN anchor team who measures up to the original Dan and Keith Show. (Although, considering my Hawaii bias, I actually think
Neil Everett isn’t doing too bad – orange perma-tan notwithstanding.)
6) Least favorite book written by a broadcast journalist: Like the Scribe, my options are limited here – some of the broadcast-related stories I’ve read are pretty well-written. For the record, however, I doubt that Bill O’Reilly will ever be able to write anything more inventive than the infamous
“Caribbean shower fantasy” (aka the "I'll rub you with my falafel" monologue) that was posted on The Smoking Gun.
7)
Broadcast journo you wish would write a book, already: Keith and
Anderson have already written theirs, and Scribe already nominated Christiane Amanpour… so I’m definitely waiting on
Lisa Ling and
Meredith Vieira to start telling their own sides of the story, since they were the classier parts of
The View. Also, if
Joe Moore finally comes through on his long-awaited threat to force himself into retirement, I would rather that he sit down and write his memoirs ASAP… because I’m betting that the old gorilla’s got a lot of bitchy dirt to spill when he really gets down to it.
9) Which comic strip series/artist would you like to put out of their misery? You should’ve seen the dance of joy I recently did when
Lynn Johnston of For Better or For Worse announced her retirement – it’ll be a matter of time before I never see those overly melodramatic Pattersons ever again. Now, if only
Tom Tomorrow would do the same…
10) If you came across a book by a journo whose political affiliations were different from yours, what will actually motivate you to read that book? This is difficult for me, seeing as my politics are not as strongly defined as it should be – ironic, considering that I’ve become even more apolitical in spite of my religious background. I’m more likely to be let down by bad writing than bad politics, though, so I’ll be willing to put up with some carefully-written arguments.
So yeah: I really am here in Ohio, crashing at The Scribe's place (and swaddled in all manners of fleece blankies and layering shirts, as a tropical girl often is in this sort of weather), typing away on my Compaq while she's chasing down sources for last-minute stories. It's cold outside - blame the funnel cloud system over Missouri - and even Scribe's beloved Kittensley is hiding under the bed, bemoaning the weather. But I type on, having been up since 6:30 and running on decaf since.
I'm also still finishing From Bauhaus to Our House, which was the only book I was able to read while running from gate to gate (and snarfing all sorts of food along the way) at the airport. I'll admit that I was a Tom Wolfe newbie before this - even though I've had copies of The Right Stuff, Bonfire of the Vanities, and A Man in Full kicking about my shelves at various points in my life. It's a compact read, but I'm totally blown away by how Wolfe sets up - and knocks down - the Bauhaus renaissance in the United States (especially houses like these) as the impractical, imperfect dogma that it really is; it's a book that's as much about architecture as it really is about power, status, and intellectual snobbery. A perfect read, especially on an election year as mind-bending as the one we already have right now. 
