Voice defends Waxman's work

Cynthia Cotts in the Village Voice fact-checks Fox online gossip columnist Roger Friedman's feud with New York Times Hollywood reporter Sharon Waxman and comes down on her side. Cotts debunks Friedman's complaints about Waxman's reporting, and appears to be no fan of the foxnews.com guy.

Sometimes Friedman gets it right. But anyone who starts crowing about inaccurate and unethical reporting will eventually have the spotlight turned on himself. Other scribes express varying degrees of affection and pity for Friedman. One calls him "marginal, with delusions of grandeur"; another says he wants "to be respected."

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The worst rap on Friedman is that he shills for Miramax, a charge he denies. He edited an Oscar supplement for Talk magazine in 2000, and Miramax backed the 2003 r&b documentary Only the Strong Survive, which Friedman co-produced. Colleagues say his column often repeats Miramax spin. But no one is as disgusted as Waxman, who asks of Fox, "Do they hold him to journalistic standards or does he just get to slander people with impunity?" Friedman responds, "I have the same standards as the Times, I think."

Cotts says, incidentally, that People magazine is working on a piece about top Hollywood reporters. (Via Romenesko)