Writer loses job over Wolverine

[dipsydoodle]

A US columnist is out of a job after posting an online review of an illegally downloaded copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Roger Friedman, who wrote the piece on his regular column, had worked at the Fox news website for 10 years.

Fox News said that the company's representatives and Friedman "mutually agreed to part ways immediately".

It said that Friedman's behaviour was "reprehensible" and that it "condemned this act categorically".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7987136.stm

[mackerel]

1. It's too bad but touting illegal downloads isn't that

professional. I can see both sides on this but I wouldn't come down too hard on FOX. They probably had legal in giving them a long lecture before they even talked to Friedman. Lesson learned.

[Malikshah]

2. Roger Friedman is an unmitigated ass. Google his name and beyond all the links to his

recent canning, you'll find he's one of the biggest d-bags out there. Do a google image search...comes across as a wannabe Prothero (V for Vendetta) for the entertainment circuit...

[NashVegas]

3. I Think It Smells

Traditional media people are now forced to compete against crowd-sourcing: citizen journalists with high-paying day-jobs, or college students, looking to make a splash and self-promote via social networking.

Five days ago, a longtime acquaintance, a free-lance writer, told me how he's now spending more time working than ever, and making less money, thanks to the internet and web 2.0

The second thing that's very frustrating to trad. media people is they see themselves as having dedicated their professional lives to developing their skills because they love culture and want to help promote what's really good out there, ie, the "cultural filter" function, and in exchange for this, they accept that they aren't going to get rich. The new breed looks like they're more about promoting themselves than anything else, and they will get on their MySpace, FaceBook, and Twitter pages and push any piece of crap, whatsoever, to get some deposits in the favor bank.

Into this mix you take a veteran movie reviewer who's trying to remain relevant, while his parent company wants to tie his hands to protect their investment in a side-interest.

This is something that's been happening *all over* corporate media for 15 years or more. You have people who work for one division who are hamstrung from competing with their all, while they're pretty much commanded to promote dreck like it's pure gold.

What Friedman did was a shitty thing to Fox, but Fox trying to keep Friedman from doing what he (thinks he) does best was equally shitty.

[kubrick74]

4. Writer loses job over Wolverine

I think they were just trying to make an example of him. It's not like people were going to run out an get pirated videos as a result of it.

Do we think that most people would even know where or how to get a pirated video?

Yes, we know its on the internet and can probably even find them, but do few would take the trouble. It's easier to Netflix.

[4lbs]

5. The dude worked at FOX News, he couldn't find a way to get a hold of a DVD Screener like what a

movie studio sends to all the other reviewers?