Re: Ethical to already start writing a book about Boston now(not me)?

Natalie63 Tue Apr 30, 2013 10:18 am

Mr MattM wrote:It's also worth remembering that Hal wrote a book about the Boston marathon as a prelude to it's 100th running; "Boston, a Century of Running : Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Boston Athletic Association Marathon"

This, and Hal writes about running and marathons. He writes about Boston a lot. He ran it a lot. It is part of his history and part of why we chose to seek him out in the first place. Why would he NOT write about this? He's a writer and I'm sure he has something of value to add to the commentary. He is compiling personal stories from people who might not have otherwise told them. He is fleshing out the situation in his own unique style.

In the meantime, Newtown fades from the collective consciousness of our elected officials and a 17 year old boy brings the family handgun to the classroom to commit suicide in front of his classmates...

Paula Sue Tue Apr 30, 2013 10:33 am

Seth Harrison wrote:My first reaction was that there is something unseemly about capitalizing on the tragedy, especially so quickly after it happened. On the other hand, if there was no revenue to be generated, would CNN and other news networks have provided wall to wall coverage for days following the attack, would newspapers and their websites have devoted the resources to covering the story if they weren't getting so many clicks on their sites and the advertising dollars weren't flowing? For that matter, would my newspaper have expected me whip out my Iphone and cover the explosions shortly after I crossed the finish line? As journalists, we'd love to believe that coverage of tragedies such as the Marathon bombings are what we do because of our mission to inform, (and I firmly believe in the importance of said mission), but not many of us are so naive as to believe that such ideals are the sole driving factor when decisions are made as to what we devote our resources to. So my answer is that I see no ethical issues with Hal, or anyone else, writing a book about the tragedy.
That said, I can't imagine what he can offer that would be so different from what's been reported ad infinitum over the past two weeks, and so I can't imagine that there would be great interest in such a book at this time. Last I looked, CNN was still reporting out of Boston, and I'm already paying my cable bill, so why would I need to pay for a book on the story.

My thoughts exactly, Seth. AND the media is STILL making money on this one...and will CONTINUE to make money on it as long as 'new' evidence is found. Don't blame the writer or the media...blame the public for lapping it up like ice cream. We thrive on excitement and to some, this continues to be exciting, mysterious, unanswered...a book in itself! Oh yes, and to my knowledge the media isn't dropping a dime in the OneFund vault.

Ben Z Thu May 09, 2013 4:48 pm

Diego wrote:Many of us have gone over to to V-Team(Training Peaks) site in the past. One of the founders is writing an E-book about the experiences of marathoners that day.

Ethical?
Capitalistic?
Meant to help heal?

I'd let you decide where you stand and not share my opinion.

For those of us who think that telling their stories may help the healing process, feel free to share your story with the author.
If you feel strongly the other way, I guess you could reply to his FB page or the TP forum.

Is this Hal? Is he "one of the founders"? Nice touch btw.

My initial reaction is that this is yet another example of him trying to make money anyway he can. Let me noodle on it for awhile to see if I feel differently in the coming days. (yes, his style frustrates me)

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