Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Challenge The Kent Dynasty - Nepotism at the Planet?

Recently there's been quite a lot of indignation about a British member of Parliament who was paying his sons and wife salaries and expenses (from public funds) as researchers etc.

One response to this today was a British magazine, Private Eye, which pointed out some examples of nepotism in the British newspapers that were complaining about the MP; lots of Publisher's and Editor's sons and wives drawing high wages despite an apparent lack of talent.

So applying this to the Lois and Clark world, and thinking of the many Next Generation stories that have their child working at the Planet, you have to wonder what other papers and rival journalists would have to say about this - Ralph or his successor, for example - and how much it would take to convince them that the new Kent got the job on merit.

Might be a story in this for someone.

I think a simple Kerth should prove any new Kent's talent. Or getting more front-page stories than any other reporter at the Planet.

Not, if the above the fold front page by Kent Junior is about the daily dog show.
Sorry, could not resist.

But seriously, the recent Kent inflation. Hm, ok, I guess there has always been a Kent at the Planet in every Next Gen fic.

There is of course Home, where the next gen Ralph (Nan must really hate the poor guy ) goes after next gen Lois because she apparently used sexual favors (i.e. marriage) to get to be Clark's partner. Um, well, yeah. Right.

Honesty, where Jon is *just* in IT-tech.

And the whole bunch of stories where their kid has to work the ladder upwards. I don't remember a story where a next gen Kent got to where he or she was without at least one major story and/or lots of hard work. -> No one would be able to bring a case of nepotism forward against them.

More interesting - or entertaining, perhaps - is the notion of a Daily Planet in the firm hands of the Kent dynasty. Editors, top reporters, owners, one might argue that the media is no longer free or impartial when it comes to the Daily Planet. And this could be the real bummer to disprove.

Michael

There's no need for it to be real nepotism - but with sufficient spin the simple fact of a son or daughter working at the Planet might be seen that way.

Of course. I'd guess that every little Kent (or not-so-little-anymore Kent) would have to prove himself over and over again. Maybe even start out at another newspaper? Either another big one (New York Times? Chicago Tribune? Daily Bugle? :p Gotham Gazette? {Ahm, hi, Lara!}) or at the Metropolis Star. I can't see any editor of the Planet doing nothing when scooped repeatedly by the Star's top reporter - Kent junior. So, what if said editor was reluctant to hire Kent junior precisely because of the nepotism issue?

A reporting competition between LnC and their errant offspring could be very interesting indeed. As a matter of fact, I'd love to read it.

This is such an interesting concept. I can't see either Lois or Clark (perhaps each for different reasons ) pulling strings to get their kids preferential treatment to be hired at the DP. I know there's the "whatever my kid wants" thing, but it's also a tad corrupt.

So the challenge becomes to show the kid proving to the DP PTB that s/he is the absolute best qualified person for the job.

On the other hand, what if we take the premise that L & C did pull those strings. then what would the kid have to go through to prove that she was top notch? Would he be easily accepted or would there be resentment?

Lots of stuff to explore.

c.

Funny you should mention nepotism and newspapers....

in the Australian press we have known dynasties of journalists (as in Kent's not as in Murdochs/Franklin Sterns/Lex Luthors)

I can think of two individuals in particular (a father/daughter duo) who both write as senior columnists for Aussie papers, however despite being notorious for having similar political views, these two write for different papers... hence even though nepotism does not really come into it, it certainly does help when applying for a job...


just like several actors/musicians/scientists/... or tradesmen...

centuries of famous musicians named Bach, Mozart and Beethoven all came from dynasties of musicians...

Violin makers, piano builders, architects, painters, ....

in fact even psychologists (think of Anna Freud)

if mum/dad was famous for one thing, then I suppose it would be inevitable that daughter/son would at least know the basics *even if you go back to the fact that they heard these things discussed over the dinner table every day...

My father is a 4th generation medical doctor, and all 4 generations went to med-school somewhere in the world (Poland, Switzerland, London and Sydney)... no amount of nepotism will get you the high school-grades to successfully enter medicine (as a first year out of school, where you basically needed 100% in your yr12 exams

politicians are different though, as family and influence are evidently essential in certain instances...

Yeah, the Kennedy family in the US is certainly that way. JFK's daughter writes for a newspaper in Washington, and her opinion can send the political world into a tizzy over who she's endorsing. That kind of Nepotism can get you into minor offices, but I don't know how much if any it helped George W. Bush in his presidential candidacy that his father had been president.