Are the exclusive interviews with Superman giving the Planet an unfair advantage over the competition?
Last week DC’s Source Blog released preview images for Superman #706, written by G. Willow Wilson with art by Amilcar Pinna. In these preview pages we get a small taste of the upcoming storyline in Superman exploring the journalistic integrity of the Daily Planet. It seems the Planet is being accused by an internet website for supposedly bribing Superman into exclusive interviews. This got us thinking; is it fair for Superman to remain exclusive to one particular news source--personal relationships not withstanding--and could the equivalent of an internet blog really tear down one of the most respected old media news sources in all of the DC Universe?
The New Adventures of Superman's Perry White would not be scared of a blog post. Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s first talk Superman exclusivity. Obviously, the real reason Superman interviews only with the Daily Planet is because of his love for Lois Lane since he moved to Metropolis, and that he actually works for the paper under the guise of Clark Kent. However, that’s something only us readers are clued into. Within the context of the DC Universe, Superman’s reasoning for remaining Daily Planet exclusive is far more perplexing. In this comic, the Daily Planet is being accused of slipping Supes money under the table, or worse, having their award-winning, married journalist, Lois Lane, sleep with the Man of Steel (ahem) for exclusive one-on-one opportunities. These are just half-baked theories--or conspiracies if you choose to look at it like that--concocted by this website, Urbanitis, to gain exposure and traffic. == TEASER ==
But what could make this whole situation blow over quickly is the matter of trust. Superman trusts the Daily Planet to report his words without alteration, whether the interview comes from Lois Lane, himself, or whoever. Superman has the right to interview with whomever he chooses. And in a city that is practically owned by his arch-nemesis, Lex Luthor, Superman is wise to remain exclusive to the one newspaper in Metropolis that doesn’t buy into Lex Luthor’s shenanigans. Other news outlets--both old and new media--are going to continue to accuse the Daily Planet of bribing Superman for interviews. That will never stop. It’s actually surprising it’s taken DC this long to address a story beat like this, considering the internet is now our mainstream news source and print is quickly dying off.
The internet!!! And that brings us to our next point. How is Perry White scared of what is essentially a blog post? Anyone can jump on the internet, create a blog for free, and start writing and “posting” whatever they want, true or not. This should not be something Perry White is just learning about, honestly. It also shouldn’t be something he is afraid of. I understand he wants to approach the situation cautiously, sending in a mole to root out the real evidence without any traces leading back to the Daily Planet, but honestly, no one at the Daily Planet should lose sleep over this. The internet is full of lies . And cat pictures, of course.
If this internet blog was able to dredge up some dirt on the Daily Planet, I’m sure the truth could be sorted out rather hastily. Especially since there literally is no Superman “hush” fund for exclusive interviews, as Perry White says in the preview pages. This whole scenario seems more like a bump in the road for the Daily Planet than a full-on tire-popping pothole. And when you get right down to it, the day an internet blog has more journalistic integrity than a legitimate news outlet is the day I weep for humanity. Just saying.
It does raise the question of the daily planet's objectivity, would they be hesitant to run a story that shows Superman in a negative light as they may lose their exclusive interviews?
Also think about what the real media is like, no one is interested in plain vanilla nice media stories. Papers are sold on the back of scandals and controversy. In the real world the planet would probably struggle to sell papers based upon it's superman connections, people would probably be bored by said interviews.
It's crown jewel should be the stories Clark can run with the information he gains as superman. I mean he's got super-hearing so no need for bugs or eavesdropping, there's less of a burden of proof in journalism compared to law. Plus he can superspeed in and out of a hidden areas without been seen. Although would Clark really use his powers in such a way? Probably not, he's in the wrong job.
Though most (if not all) incarnations of Superman (comics, tv, movies, radio) in some way bring up the fact that Clark or Lois can get in touch with Superman easier than most people the comics have shown Superman to give interviews to other newspapers as well as tv stations. He appeared on Cat Grant's show just before battling Doomsday and any time he makes a press statement there are always multiple news sources at the event. The entire Grounded arc speaks to that as dozens of reporters are following Supes around and he's freely talking to them the entire time.
I think Wilson is taking this arc in the wrong direction. Though JMS really did a number on Supes by making him start this walk the original intent behind it was actually kind of cool and very 50's America nostalgic. Ever since the introduction of the falling New Krypton crystals and these strange dreams that Supes is having the arc has just lost the appeal of what it was aiming for. They should have let the Grounded section finish with a big bad threatening things and Superman realizing, sadly, that he can't spend time on individual problems as he'd wish and he can only remain the example to others and fight the battles humanity isn't ready for.
I could see this problem as an issue for our beloved Man of Steel as this source of valuable and damaging information in the hands of not only Lex Luthor, but a sleeze-ball competitor who's striving to be the number one newspaper company within Metropolis. Of course this problem wouldn't find itself as the source of a certain event or situation with our Man of Steel, but can be a build up that hammers down on Perry White, Lois Lane, and Superman at the very end, and even Luthor somehow behind this devious planning to shame the Superman name and mostly ruin Perry White's business would really catch some comicfans attention.
EXTRA: SUPERMAN SECRETLY WORKING FOR THE DAILY PLANET Sources believe that Daily Bugle's Editor in Chief: Perry White has secretly been hiring Superman for rare excslusive interviews through means of payment and offering escorting services from fellow employee Lois Lane. Currently under investigation of other possible scams and crimes, Daily Bugle has taken a powerful blow when citizens of Metropolis are convinced that the evidence found were enough to believe that the Daily Bugle was one of the most beloved and trusting newspaper companies has lied to them for years. Currently Perry White has resigned from his position within Daily Bugle and Lex Luthor has once again retaken Daily Bugle to ensure as quoted " To give the beloved people of Metropolis what they rightly deserve, with no lies, no deception, and no secret employment of any hero or villain alike." As the founder of Lex Corp proudly hires Jerry Granger as the new Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Planet. Lois Lane still denying any sexual involvement torwards Superman through means of company related purposes was fired from her position within the Daily Globe yesterday because of strong evidence supporting her relations and involvement with Superman under the guidence of Perry White. As for Superman still hasn't had anything to say about these accusations, and still denies any interveiws about his involvement with the Daily Globe and also having the citizens within Metropolis lacking trust with their so-called hero.
Hold on good point, what the friggin hell would superman need money for? He's got a big ass ice castle-fortress, he feeds off the sun and he's mates with a billionaire
" Hold on good point, what the friggin hell would superman need money for? He's got a big ass ice castle-fortress, he feeds off the sun and he's mates with a billionaire "
@AMS said:
" Next thing you know Lex Luthor will be posting some documents on wikileaks "
I don't see how they can stretch this into a full storyline.
"
I don't think they will. It sounds like an issue that was written to buy time in order to frantically get all the loose "Grounded" ends tied together after JMS left.
Like the article says, it's something that can easily be taken care of. Especially in Superman's world.
Superman story aside, I actually think this they are just trying to relate the daily planet to today's times. Pretty much all newspapers are failing to internet news and blogs because of that kind of thing. I give props to Wilson for bringing that kind of problem in to the comic book uninverse.
@dondasch: Probably improvised to end up quickly the awful plot JMS started with Supers walking, so we can go back quickly to "punching giant aliens and robotic threats to earth". (like Doomsday return in January!)
I believe that until Superman quashes these rumors himself, the public will continue to be perplexed by his exclusive relationship with the Daily Planet. I completely understand why other media entities would be both frustrated and skeptical of the Man of Steel for his unwillingness to share his exploits with them. Surely Ms. Lane has come under a certain degree of scrutiny for being the ONLY media representative that Superman is willing to reveal information to. True, Superman's alter ego Clark Kent is also an employee of the Daily Planet, but has he not taken into consideration that this in itself draws unwanted attention from villainous ne'er-do-wells, and investigators? As a superhero, I would want to throw them off of my trail, and a good way to do that would be to diversify my public appearances through various media outlets. Confuse them, don't appear before them like a beacon of light shouting "Here I am! Come and get me!" I think Superman can remedy this situation. The question, however, is if he has already exposed himself, his loved ones, and his friends too much by being exclusive to one particular firm.
I don't think it's immoral for Superman to only talk to the Daily Planet, although it's probably immoral for Clark to use his alter ego to advance his career through exclusive interviews.
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