After the first of the eleventy-billion emails arrived at Private Eye about Max Gogarty on Thursday afternoon, it took me less than a minute to establish that his dad didn't actually work for the Guardian. And that bit of a twat he might very well be (weren't most of us when we were 19? Isn't that what 19 year olds are for, and that's why they get the washboard stomachs and cheekbones to compensate?) but he is a successful writer in his own right, and hence a perfectly reasonable commission, whoever he might be related to. So now can we all get back to anonymously slagging of the McCanns instead?
If you want to read about a lot of editorial staff who actually did give their kids jobs on national newspapers - including a real shocker on the Guardian - can I recommend you read the half-page feature I did on the topic in the current eye?
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7 comments:
Could you please elaborate on this successful writing career.
contributing material to one of Channel 4's most successful home-originated dramas in recent years. Which is more than I've managed in 32 years, let alone 19.
Bad argument. The fact that you have something published or that you have contributed to a tv drama doesn't make you a successful writer. Have you read his piece in the blog? I did. It was bad in form, style and content. Readers deserve something better, particularly so if you are a reader of the Guardian, a "quality" newspaper.
Not-very-good writer commissioned to write piece for website. Hold the fricking front page.
That's the whole point though, "not very good writer". The criticism started well before anyone knew that his dad was a travel writer. In fact the criticiam of these blogs has been going on for a long time. It had no place on the website of a "quality" newspaper because it was lousy writing. The nepotism just inflamed the matter, as did the continually more arrogant attitude of the editor and now I see, the Observer.
The Guardian should stop trying to be down with da kids and concentrate on being a newspaper and leave this sort of tosh to Facebook and LiveJournal. To try and deny that there was any nepotism was involved is just plain silly. They should hold their hands up and then shut up.
As for the whining about the comments, it's a public blog, it invites comments, that's what blogs do. If you don't want criticism for shoddy work then don't put yourself up for it.
As for the Observer, class war? Give me a break, most of the people who I've heard complain about it are young middle class budding journalists, just like Max, but with more talent, not flat cap joe down the pub. I would put money on him never having heard of the Guardian blogs. After reading Greenslade's view on young journalists being exploited by having to work for nothing, thereby limiting the profession to those whose parents can afford to support them, and now this, it's not looking good for the future of newspapers.
Sorry, Adam, but you did _read_ the article he submitted, didn't you? It was shit.
You say his daddy doesn't work for the Guardian - but on his own site he says "Paul Gogarty writes travel journalism for [...] Guardian", which is "working for" by any standard definition of the phrase.
To paraphrase Mrs. Merton "So, Guardian commissioning editor, what attracted you to the son of one of our regular travel writers in the first place?".
P.
The reality of the situation is that the article is awful. That someone, even at 19, can be so gloriously oblivious to how they will be recieved actually beggars belief. The article would never have been considered had Paul Gogarty not worked for the Guardian himeself. Simply because he is not a full time member of the writing team hardly proves that he did not have a hand in landing his son this opportunity.
Being middle class is not a crime and niether is being stupid. Had the article been well written it would not have recieved the attention it has done. I am shocked that the editors let it through. I wonder if they even read it.
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