A follow-up on the previous post, I emailed the author of the article, Paul Millar, following antissa’s suggestion and here is a copy of the email I sent to him:
Dear Paul,
Thank you for shedding light on what “downtown Beirut” looks like – we Lebanese bloggers have found your latest article very fascinating. So much so that I’ve decided to (snail) mail youa “Looks Like Beirut” Certificate for your hard-work and dedication in keeping the out-dated cliche “looks like Beirut” alive. I understand that the phrase was used by Andrew Anonymous but the fact that you had to title your report with it speaks magnitudes to your dedication to the phrase.
I would appreciate it if you can also pass on Andrew’s certificate to him as well since he decided to remain in the shadows. In the event you are interested to see what downtown Beirut currently looks like, I have some photos available on my blog.
You should receive both certificates by mail soon.
Hi, as I said to your friend, reporters do not put headlines on stories. Hope this clarifies your misunderstanding.
Perhaps send one to the editor as well next time? : )
Actually I’m going to send the editor or sub-editor (or who ever writes titles for journalists) a certificate too.
I agree with the idea of contacting the editor, and the editor for the section, if applicable.
Nonetheless the reply was clearly dodging the content of your letter. It is possible he also was unhappy with the titling, but isn’t professionally free to voice that too loudly.
Good idea to remind people that a once live metaphor is now a dead metaphor (using Paul Ricoeur’s terms) ie a cliche–and no longer applicable, if it ever was. 😀
No misunderstanding. It just sounds like he’s a very disgruntled, unhappy reporter.
I was thinking the same thing.