Matt Nippert - apprentice hack, Auckland
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Flaming pages
If infamy is far better than obscurity, I guess I ain't doin' too bad. Arriving at class on Monday, I was surprised to see this schoolyard diatribe in the letters to the editor pages of the AUT student publication Debate. The editor is one Rebecca Williams, a graduate of the course I'm enrolled in.
Rebecca makes loser angry
Here's a bit of history before we launch into this virtual bash. Matt Nippert is a guy who think it is cool to get every student magazine in the country and write a crap column picking on all the things he doesn't like. He does not take into account the
environment for which it is published, he also ignore the amount of hard work that we do as editors. He submits columns and demands that we publish them. I refused. I'll let the emails tell the rest of this story.
Rebecca,
I note a plea for contributors for Debate - and yet you haven't run a single one of the five columns, or the review or feature I've sent through.
Are you for real?
Cheers,
Matt
Matt
Are you? Your column is pants, haven't you got anything better to do with your time?
Rebecca
Rebecca
Your feedback is appreciated. I'm sure your legion of volunteers testifies to that.
Good luck in getting out of the media slum.
Cheers,
Matt
The last word from Bec - What a "special" guy. I chose not to respond to Matt, since he knows nothing and is probably ugly. I hope he finds the happiness that he is looking for ... I really do. My first thought was: where did my actual letter to the editor go? Emails, unless marked are generally not considered for publication. As it stands, I thought I came out rather well - certainly with more dignity than my detractor.
Secondly, the 'pants' reply was the first word I'd ever heard from Ms Williams. Never met the woman, never had much bad to say about her. There is no running grievance, there is no literary feud. Her judgments on my experience and ability seem to come from thin air. (I hear oxygen deprivation can cause brain damage.)
Thirdly, as hatchet jobs go, it's a poor effort. With home-field advantage as editor, the ability to clip text and set the stage with introductions and parting shots, I expect quality, creative, vitriol. It's not like I'm without faults. What about my mullet? Boundless arrogance? Extreme drinking problem? And this isn't even broaching anything substantive. "Ugly loser" comes straight from primary school, and honestly I expect better from the student editors of today.
I'm left in a quandary; what to do? Eyebrow cocked in quizzical disbelief? An obscenity-laced tirade? Auditioning as a character actor in the mold of Steve Buscemi? To solve this dilemma, I'm opening up the first Fightingtalk readers poll.
Matt should:
a) Fight fire with fire - launching a bitter obscenity-laced tirade usually reserved for mIRC?
b) Occupy the high ground - keeping boots clean of mud and blood?
c) Investigate further - who is Ms Williams, and what triggers such outbursts?
Email votes to: matt_nippert@yahoo.com. I'll act on them next week.
PS: Has anyone else spotted the similarities between the planned Maori Party and the Business Roundtable? Both oppose the foreshore and seabed legislation because it removes property rights, and both are staunch supporters of the private management of Auckland Central Remand Prison...
If infamy is far better than obscurity, I guess I ain't doin' too bad. Arriving at class on Monday, I was surprised to see this schoolyard diatribe in the letters to the editor pages of the AUT student publication Debate. The editor is one Rebecca Williams, a graduate of the course I'm enrolled in.
Rebecca makes loser angry
Here's a bit of history before we launch into this virtual bash. Matt Nippert is a guy who think it is cool to get every student magazine in the country and write a crap column picking on all the things he doesn't like. He does not take into account the
environment for which it is published, he also ignore the amount of hard work that we do as editors. He submits columns and demands that we publish them. I refused. I'll let the emails tell the rest of this story.
Rebecca,
I note a plea for contributors for Debate - and yet you haven't run a single one of the five columns, or the review or feature I've sent through.
Are you for real?
Cheers,
Matt
Matt
Are you? Your column is pants, haven't you got anything better to do with your time?
Rebecca
Rebecca
Your feedback is appreciated. I'm sure your legion of volunteers testifies to that.
Good luck in getting out of the media slum.
Cheers,
Matt
The last word from Bec - What a "special" guy. I chose not to respond to Matt, since he knows nothing and is probably ugly. I hope he finds the happiness that he is looking for ... I really do. My first thought was: where did my actual letter to the editor go? Emails, unless marked are generally not considered for publication. As it stands, I thought I came out rather well - certainly with more dignity than my detractor.
Secondly, the 'pants' reply was the first word I'd ever heard from Ms Williams. Never met the woman, never had much bad to say about her. There is no running grievance, there is no literary feud. Her judgments on my experience and ability seem to come from thin air. (I hear oxygen deprivation can cause brain damage.)
Thirdly, as hatchet jobs go, it's a poor effort. With home-field advantage as editor, the ability to clip text and set the stage with introductions and parting shots, I expect quality, creative, vitriol. It's not like I'm without faults. What about my mullet? Boundless arrogance? Extreme drinking problem? And this isn't even broaching anything substantive. "Ugly loser" comes straight from primary school, and honestly I expect better from the student editors of today.
I'm left in a quandary; what to do? Eyebrow cocked in quizzical disbelief? An obscenity-laced tirade? Auditioning as a character actor in the mold of Steve Buscemi? To solve this dilemma, I'm opening up the first Fightingtalk readers poll.
Matt should:
a) Fight fire with fire - launching a bitter obscenity-laced tirade usually reserved for mIRC?
b) Occupy the high ground - keeping boots clean of mud and blood?
c) Investigate further - who is Ms Williams, and what triggers such outbursts?
Email votes to: matt_nippert@yahoo.com. I'll act on them next week.
PS: Has anyone else spotted the similarities between the planned Maori Party and the Business Roundtable? Both oppose the foreshore and seabed legislation because it removes property rights, and both are staunch supporters of the private management of Auckland Central Remand Prison...
