J.K. Rowling and the meddlesome media
Given her portrayal of journalists in her Harry Potter books, it’s fairly apparent J.K. Rowling doesn’t like the media.
That’s ironic, since the media loves Rowling.
The three key journalists Rowling created in the Harry Potter books are unreliable, cowardly, lazy and sensationalist. All of them. The two publications, The Daily Prophet and The Quibbler, are inaccurate, biased and unfair.
Even in her real life, Rowling is aloof and private. She doesn’t grant many interviews and tries to avoid the media as much as possible. It’s understandable to a point. When the movies and books are about to be released, the requests for interviews must be overwhelming.
But she’s not exactly afraid of the media either. She recently sued a British tabloid for publishing photos of one of her children. In a way I can understand her frustration. Her children are not famous. They did not write the Harry Potter books. They should be granted a degree of privacy. As a journalist, I see little value in photographs of her children.
But also as a journalist, I have an interest in her abilities as a writer. She has been credited for reviving literacy among children. At the very least, she gets credit for making kids want to read again. It makes it a little troubling that she portrays those who write for a living in such a negative light.
The one journalist who has any redeeming qualities in the Harry Potter books is Elphias Doge. He’s a member of the Order of the Phoenix and writes Dumbledore’s obituary. It’s one of the best pieces of writing in “The Deathly Hallows” and complete rubbish. Doge is exposed as a liar to an extent when the real story of Dumbledore’s life is revealed. Doge doesn’t even have the courage or the ability to defend his story when it is criticized and disputed by Auntie Muriel. His talents as a writer and journalist are overshadowed by his cowardice and inaccuracies. Doge, the most reliable and trustworthy journalist in Rowling’s world, can’t be trusted.
Xenophiliuis Lovegood, the publisher of The Quibbler, is depicted as a sensationalist bordering on the insane. Worse than that, he is portrayed as a traitor. As a supporter of Harry Potter and his endeavors in his publication, he appears to be one of the few characters that Harry, Hermioine and Ron can trust. But first chance Xenophilius gets, he tries to turn them over to the death eaters.
Granted, he is motivated by fear. The only reason he even considers selling out Harry, Ron and Hermione is because his daughter, Luna, is being held captive by the death eaters. But still, he discards his integrity for the truth for selfish reasons. I’m not saying I or anyone would act differently, but his pursuit of the truth is derailed to save his daughter. Tough choice, but Xenophilius chooses selfishly and betrays the trust of those who have the best chance of saving his daughter.
Rita Skeeter has no redeeming qualities. She is the worst of what journalism has become. She has little respect for fairness and truth. She is more concerned with being famous than being accurate. It’s a truly a sad depiction of how Rowling portrays journalists.
As a journalist, it makes it difficult to read through some of the passages, especially when she is making such broad and stereotypical assumptions about how the media operates. In all her experiences with the media, I can’t believe all of them have been this painful. At least one of the journalists she created could have been courageous, a seeker of truth and a voice of the people. Or the wizards as the case may be.