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Harry Potter sets standards for journalistic decency

In a new article, the Chicago Tribune explores the "unusual degree of human decency" that the all forms of media exercised during the pre-release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

In the article entitled What Would Harry Potter Do?, Patrick T. Reardon marvels at how strongly the media protected the secret of the final book before its release and even how it continued to protect the plot with *SPOILER* warnings in its articles and news pieces. Can journalists post-Potter phenomenon continue that respect of others, or will the ravenous media fall back into their get-the-story-at-all-costs attitude?

Quote:

Although copies of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" were in circulation in the days leading up to its official publication date of July 21, news organizations and individual bloggers, almost unanimously, refused to disclose details of the novel. They didn't reveal the ending. They didn't make public even the usual plot and character bits routinely mentioned in book reviews.

Quote:

Normally, journalists aren't so mushy. Normally, the argument that the public has a right to know anything and everything trumps all other considerations. Behind this argument isn't just 1st Amendment pieties. There's also a competitive imperative. The rush to be first with news doesn't leave much room for consideration of whether a particular revelation is the sort of news that the public must know.

Usually, it's not a fictional plot that gets revealed but the real-world details of someone's private life.

Quote:

Including a Harry Potter check on all stories can't be imposed from outside. It's something that each writer and editor, each news organization and blogger, will have to decide individually.

But, if, somehow, the nation's journalism community could be a tad more thoughtful about when something should be made public, it would be a change "for the greater good."

It would be magical.

For the full, very interesting article, go here.

Interesting article!

'For the greater good'. Heh. Great article, by the way <3

That's incredibly interesting!

Interesting article.:) :hermy:
JK ROWLING IS A GENIUS OF FICTION WRITING!

Intruiging. Good article.

That is great!
Soo... interesting too!

That's really good that the media dicided to have a little of decency with the secrecy of the final book

That was slightly interesting.

What did it mean when they said "refused to disclose details of the novel. They didn't reveal the ending." The ending was all over the net in lasting week until Deathly Hallows release!!!

No it wasn't. At least i don't think so. ;)

Lovely article, btw.

Wow. I'm very impressed.

I read a british newspaper 2 days after DH was released, which had an article in it which gave away pretty much the whole plot, ith no spoiler warnings or anything. The pictures shown were from OotP, so it was really misleading, and could have easily been read by someone who had not finished or started the book. Luckily I'd already finished, but it made me really angry.

how interesting! thats really nice...

I think that the reason for this is because everyone who reads Harry Potter understands just how much it means to all the readers. We've followed Harry's stories for a very long time (for as long as some of us can remember) and to spoil it would not only be extremely rude, it would also be unnecessarily cruel.

At least...that's the reason I refused to spoil the ending for any of my friends who had not finished reading the book.

I agree - I'm continually amazed by how much respect the media gives HP fans. Spoiler alerts are almost always given, even when the information may only give a hint of a spoiler, and, as they said, it seems as if they understand the "decency" we expect and we hope for.

Interesting article.