• nat_turner_overdrive [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    8 months ago

    I was a little surprised by the American politician/journalist/official’s appearance. They weren’t wearing military fatigues wet with the blood of innocents, with a smoking rifle in their hands and stolen natural resources in their backpack.

    • zifnab25 [he/him, any]@hexbear.net
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      8 months ago

      Confused when I was confronted with my American counterpart, who was not covered with grease stains and did not have a burger in either hand, nor loose fitting jeans barely clasped at the waist by a thin leather belt with a buckle the size of a small dog.

  • BodyBySisyphus [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    8 months ago

    Obligatory “please apply this writing style to the west” moment:

    I had half expected to see a stiff and upright colonel of the kind I used to meet in the RAF, lips covered by a drooping mustache, mouth dripping with tea, constantly muttering ‘wot wot wot’ after everything he said.

    • iridaniotter [she/her]@hexbear.net
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      8 months ago

      THE YANKEE SPOKESMAN was right on time for our meeting. I was a little surprised by his appearance; I had half expected to see a loud cowboy of the kind I used to meet in Texas—mouth occupied by a cigar, a wide-brimmed hat adorning his head and a revolver in his belt. Instead, Matthew Miller was a neat-looking fellow in a European-style business suit and a purple tie. He kept a physical distance as he greeted me, his manner arrogant but formal, as if to register that his country was unassailable.

  • FlakesBongler [they/them]@hexbear.net
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    8 months ago

    I fuckin’ love this new strategy they use where they say something along the lines of "I was expecting some sort of racist stereotype when i met <blank>, but they were actually a normal like me!" as if it proves how cultured they are that they’re willing to admit they were wrong even if they’re also admitting they’re absolutely fucking racist

  • worlds_okayest_mech_pilot [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    8 months ago

    Look, we all have expectations regarding appearance before we meet something. It’s a fact of human socialization.

    …you don’t need to put it in your article. Especially if it’s like this.

    • zifnab25 [he/him, any]@hexbear.net
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      8 months ago

      Its one thing to have expectations. Its another thing to express open shock at the lack of sepia filter and distant yodeling call to prayer when confronted by a person from the Middle East IRL.

  • axont [she/her, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    8 months ago

    Flashback to when Jeremy Corbyn started wearing a suit and tie when he was polling high for PM and British liberals freaked out because it meant Corbyn was “getting serious”

    These people are like trained seals. They see a person in formal business attitire and they clap

  • TrudeauCastroson [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    8 months ago

    I’ve never read an article describing what it was like to interview someone that didn’t sound like the author jerking off in literature format.

    Idk when this trend started but it needs to stop. There are fanfics that are better.

    • driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br
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      8 months ago

      Kinda lucky he wasn’t expecting meeting a woman or half the paragraph would be about how he expected the bounce of her breast were.

      • Sickos [they/them, it/its]@hexbear.net
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        8 months ago

        Ugh the current intro to Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 was written by Matt Taibbi and exalts the book for exactly this reason. I was reading it and screaming “shut up! None of you will ever be this cool!” In my head the whole time

    • RyanGosling [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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      8 months ago

      I took a multimedia class and learned that a NYT article called Snow Fall popularized using multimedia in the the long form Journalism genre.

      I don’t know who popularized long form journalism itself, but I’ve had multiple instances where I tried to look up information about an ongoing mass shooting and the front page is just articles detailing some guy’s daily routine getting interrupted by a shooting. Like motherfucker. Can you not wait until it’s over to do this shit. Or at least Google not push this shit to the front instead of to the point information about a killer.

      I understand why cooking recipes do this shit now. Sure, part of it is SEO, but the other has to be pretentiousness

  • SoyViking [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    8 months ago

    When I met the German spokesman I was surprised to see he was not wearing Lederhosen, a Pickelhaube and a swastika armband, nor was he goose-stepping, racing his Audi down the autobahn or stuffing his face with sausages.

  • iridaniotter [she/her]@hexbear.net
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    8 months ago

    There are only three types of journalists hired by mainstream newspapers:

    1. The stenographer - just copies and pastes press releases
    2. The high school graduate - literal 19 year-old, but could easily pass for a 16 year-old with those writing skills
    3. The racist - only reads newspapers from a century ago; yes, he still thinks the Soviet Union exists
    • SoyViking [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      8 months ago

      The khaki correspondent - Will travel to exotic sepia-toned countries. Here he will stand on safe distance to atrocities and repeat the US state department line.

    • 420stalin69@hexbear.net
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      8 months ago

      4 the nepo baby who can afford not to earn a reasonable salary, so he trades his time for social cachet, and his friends now dominate the industry

    • CloutAtlas [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      8 months ago

      With the way the American education system is, the 19 y.o. with the writing skills of a 16 y.o. is probably the top of his class

  • GrouchyGrouse [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    8 months ago

    "When I met the señor from Mexico I expected him to be wearing a poncho with a Sombrero perched jauntily upon his head, chest crossed with bullet-laden bandoliers, leading a burro - their word for “donkey.”

    Instead of a hearty “¡Hola!” he simply shook my hand and said “hello” and and welcomed me to “Buenos Aires.” I replied “No espeak-oh Spanish-oh.” I looked in my Spanish/English dictionary later on and concluded he was saying something about this being a non-smoking area."

  • FourteenEyes [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    8 months ago

    When I met with the Japanese ambassador, I was surprised to find that he did not carry two swords, and not once did he behead a subordinate for making a minor mistake in protocol. We also sat at a table and ate apsta instead of kneeling on bamboo mats to be served sushi by a master chef (also beheaded afterwards for having a grain of rice out of place)

    • RyanGosling [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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      8 months ago

      I think the Japanese ambassador actually gifted a samurai sword to Ukraine shortly after the invasion lol

      Oh no it’s worse than that

      Their propaganda is so fucking trash 💀 they lie about the dumbest shit. They should thank orthodox Jesus for making westerners so stupid

  • Fishroot [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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    8 months ago

    The Emperor of the united state was right on time for our meeting. I was a little surprised by his appearance; I had half expected to see a demented Klansman of the kind I used to meet in the united state—mouth drooling with burger grease, a stained wifebeater over his shoulders and a pepsi bottle in his belt. Instead, Joe Brandon was a creepy fellow in a Wehrmacht blazer and a button-down shirt. He kept a physical distance as he greeted me, his manner restrained but ready, as if he will jump on my neck if I looked away for one second