I am going to take another run at this - it may be that people disagree with me, which I am used to, but it may be I have not expressed myself clearly.
If the story is: “Fallon seems like a nice guy on TV, but in reality he is a mean jerk”, then yes, they do have that story. I am not against anonymous sources (if the reporter and outlet are credible), and the story cites many current and former employees agreeing that Fallon has been a jerk, or that working for him was not as fun as they had imagined it would be. However, that is not really the story the article is selling. The actual story is: “Fallon is an alcoholic who is often either drunk or hungover at work, making him a toxic (not just mean) employer.” While this is the story they are really telling (its the only story that justifies a long expose, and the splash they obviously expected to cause) this is the story that they do not have. They do not have any source that establishes that he was drunk or hungover at work, just suspicions. They imply he is frequently affected by alcohol at work, but don’t specifically state how often he is impaired. They cite sources who claim extremely serious harm caused by Fallon (that he is responsible for suicidal ideation or intention, that he caused panic attacks, that he inflicted harm that required formal psychiatric treatment) but again do not describe anything that would remotely be likely to cause such effects (I can state pretty categorically that people do not literally want to kill themselves because their boss wrote snide or sarcastic comments in the margins of some written product they submitted). If the story they wanted to tell was just that the real Fallon is a jerk, unlike his persona, then a competent editor should have red pencilled all the innuendo and suggestion about his being a toxic alcoholic. If they wanted to tell the toxic alcoholic story, then they should have held it until they had adequate support. Sent from Gmail Mobile On Fri, 8 Sep 2023 at 8:59 AM Mark Jeffries <[email protected]> wrote: > The thing is, though, the fact that Fallon has had nine showrunners in > nine years. Carson only had three for 30 years--and Freddie DeCordova did > it for 20 years. Dave had three in 35 years, not counting Merrill Markoe. > Colbert has only had four in eight years, counting himself in the > beginning. If there's that much turnover--and if it's reflecting in other > staff positions--there's gotta be a problem. > > Mark Jeffries > [email protected] > > > On Fri, Sep 8, 2023 at 8:57 AM PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > >> How is that a news story? What they have is 30 anonymous workers saying >> they think their boss is a jerk. >> >> The implied news story is that he is an alcoholic who is often drunk or >> hung over at work, and so toxic he drove some to suicidal ideation and >> panic attacks. But they don’t over any specific allegation about behavior >> that would come close to justifying these claims, except stating that some >> reported they “think” they smelled alcohol on him in an elevator. That >> “think” is the kind of weasel word articles use when they don’t have the >> actual goods. >> >> Sent from Gmail Mobile >> >> >> On Fri, 8 Sep 2023 at 2:34 AM JW <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> > I think the issue is that the writers of this article do not have it, >>> in >>> > the words of old school WaPo Editor Ben Bradlee. >>> >>> They have it. >>> >>> "*Rolling Stone* contacted more than 50 *Tonight Show* employees, past >>> and present, during the reporting for this story. After reaching out to >>> representatives for Fallon and NBC <https://www.rollingstone.com/t/nbc/>, >>> *Rolling Stone* reached out to an additional 30 current and former >>> staffers. While many of them praised Fallon’s immense talent and comedic >>> gifts, not a single one agreed to speak on the record or had positive >>> things to say about working on *The Tonight Show*. Nor would any of the >>> program’s nine showrunners since 2014 comment about the program’s namesake >>> on the record – they wouldn’t even give statements of support, as is common >>> in the entertainment industry." >>> >>> If NOBODY is willing to defend Fallon, be they from the show, the >>> production company, or network, there's a problem. >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to [email protected]. >>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKSNnOG2CzZ0xXpORQER2gPPrOzwdf2jVCJKJ3DQbgJ2n8qTcQ%40mail.gmail.com >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKSNnOG2CzZ0xXpORQER2gPPrOzwdf2jVCJKJ3DQbgJ2n8qTcQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> > To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkYKxucUuGjDZp_Dy3JoUXwmSfc7f%3DaVP5x2Ca13%3DHzcSyw%40mail.gmail.com >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkYKxucUuGjDZp_Dy3JoUXwmSfc7f%3DaVP5x2Ca13%3DHzcSyw%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJ_uKi-KS%2Bn77uy98c2AOb8Jvi6eczb9%2Bva34zPvZu5bCRGqkQ%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJ_uKi-KS%2Bn77uy98c2AOb8Jvi6eczb9%2Bva34zPvZu5bCRGqkQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. 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