We're hearing a lot these days about evil, biased "mainstream media" who are best bypassed so that newsmakers can speak directly to the public. That's a crock in politics, and likewise in business. Case in point: today's Q&A on NPR between host Melisssa Block and Daphne Hereford, owner of the descendants of Rin Tin Tin. Hereford has sued the studio that made the film Finding Rin Tin Tin for alleged trademark infringement. The studio wouldn't talk to NPR, but that didn't stop All Things Considered from airing an interview with Hereford on the suit. Here's an excerpt from the Q&A between Block and Hereford:
Q. Well, Ms. Hereford, what are you asking for from the the studios here?
A. We would like the product to be destroyed. And then the normal process of law that's due to us.
Q. Financial, in other words?
A. This lawsuit is not about money.
It is, she goes on to say, about upholding the integrity of the trademark system. Block, who asked natural and clear questions up to this point in the interview, goes mute. She lets Hereford spin without challenge. Why? Because, in a Q&A, we're somewhat hamstrung. We can't narrate the story and provide other voices to put self-interested puffery and lies in perspective. I'm not saying that Q&As always are bad, or are constantly manipulated. But this story is a good example of how it isn't necessarily journalism, when a source decides to blow smoke, knowing that she won't likely be contradicted.
