Finke's Rage

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Here's Marketwatch columnist Jon Friedman 's interview with L.A. Weekly columnist-blogger Nikki Finke, which ran yesterday (6.28). I don't know Nikki but I've dealt with her from time to time (yeesh), and it didn't surprise me to read that she's lost it over a quote from Gawker co-editor Jesse Oxfeld that Friedman included in his piece. Oxfeld said that Finke is "at least a bit crazy -- and you can never quite figure out if it's good crazy or bad crazy. She's a great reporter and a fun writer, and God knows I wouldn't want to be on her bad side." Obviously what he meant was that she's eccentric, spirited...inclined to go on a rip every so often over something she strongly feels or believes. The best people in this industry are all a bit "nuts". The fact that there aren't enough Hollywood nutters -- i.e., people who lay it on the line and worry about measuring or modifying their views after they've said or written them -- and the town is full of cowards who tip-toe around any and all declarative statements is obviously what's wrong with it. Finke being Finke, she'll probably take this comment as a slam also...but that goes with the territory and there's no stopping her.

comment #1

oddDuck says ...

I just read through that email chain and dude, she's crazy.

comment #2

Rob says ...

I love the bit where she worries about 'how easily [her reputation] can be undone, especially if you are a woman covering a male-dominated arena'. Word of advice, Nikki; you'll get a lot further in a 'male-dominated arena' if you show you can take a joke, especially one as innocuous as this.

comment #3

Daniel says ...

The somewhat disappointing thing here is that I think Finke was right in certain parts of her rant, but then she risks invalidating herself by flying off the handle on other things.

Was it unprofessional for Friedman to run that quote from Oxefeld? Yeah. It probably was. From a journalistic point of view, he'd have been far better served interviewing either a colleague or source of Finke's, somebody who actually knew her. Friedman went the lazy way and got a glib quote from a stranger.

Similarly, the Cary Grant stuff at the end of Friedman's story is UTTER nonsense and Nikki's correct that Friedman would never write a story about a legitimate muckraking male journalist and close it with some nonsense about how much they love Marilyn Monroe or Jessica Alba.

Reading Friedman's story, I was able to understand that he admires what Finke does, but I didn't get a sense that he respects her as a journalist, as a fellow craftsman in a similar trade.

Based on her response to the story, many more people have probably read it (myself included) than ever would have noticed it otherwise.

-Daniel

comment #4

says ...

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/i-respond-to-todays-marketwatch-profile/

Read her whole response. We love you Nikki. She writes in part:

UPDATE: My own editor has emailed me “friendly advice” that I’m “tone deaf” not to realize this is an “almost overwhelmingly positive piece” and that “your journalism is given the highest praise and your quirks, what minor ones are discussed, are endearing in the piece. You look human….” To which I say, gee, my hearing was working fine. When Friedman interviewed business journalists Allan Sloan (Newsweek) and Joseph Nocera (The New York Times) recently, he never asked them ”Which business tycoon do you have a crush on?” The result was a column that focused on their views about business journalism. Friedman and I talked 99% about that same subject, yet almost none of that is in there. Instead, Friedman asked me over and over and over again, ad nauseum, “Which movie star do you have a crush on?” — then focused on that kind of nonsense.

comment #5

TC says ...

I enjoy Nikke's columns and her takes on the biz. I see her point about the questions re: crushes etc. but she knew she was being interviewed so why didn't she confront him while it was happening? And yeah, the article didn't seem critical and she took the quote from the Gawker guy way out of context.

But reading that email thread: yeah, she does seem to be acting like a basket case. Talk about thin-skinned. Which is ironic because she has no problem sticking it to industry figures (one reason I like her column).

BTW, didn't she get into a similar flame war with someone a year or so ago?

comment #6

Yikes says ...

Nikki Finke is a couple tacos short of a combination plate.

comment #7

Skip Noonan says ...

I like it when women --like Finke and Star Jones and Barbara Walters -- live up to their stereotypes: crazy, backbiting, catfighting yentas who think with their emotions rather than their brains. Keep it up, girls!

comment #8

christian says ...

i think finke is creepy. she sprays venom for tiny insignificant things, like describing how badly warren beatty has aged (and she hasn't?) and we're supposed to feel for her? live by the sword...

comment #9

jody r says ...

The girl needs to grow some skin. She covers Hollywood, after all. She tears it off of others way more than she gets nicked herself.

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