Originally Posted By willthisbetheone Jim Hill seems to be anathema to your average Disney fan. What did he do to earn such enmity? I find myself being more fascinated by the feedback for his articles than by the articles themselves. I know that this site probably isn't the best place to be asking about him, but this is the only Disney message board I can honestly say that I trust. Sincerely, John Kilduff
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA I don't know Jim Hill personally, but I do find that the 'tone' of his writing tends to be a bit sarcastic and smug for my taste. Shocking I suppose coming from me, as my writing style isn't exactly straight-forward or lacking in the glib department. I feel the same way about MiceAge and many of the writers there. I read some of the articles and certain things just get under my skin. On the other hand, many feel that the Westcoaster.net photo updates with James Disney's captions are childish, weird, sophomoric and/or stupid. I find them to be enormously entertaining, so go figure.
Originally Posted By Phantom For some people, it is a matter of personality or writing style. Some people just rub others the wrong way. Other people have various other reasons. JH has written for different sites, including this one before. On at least one notable occassion, he started a "series" that he never finished. That bothered some people. There are some old, old, pre-Internet issues for some people. As for his articles, some are a little thin on meat, with a lot of window dressing. On the plus side, he provides some good ananlysis and does attract some scoops from inside Disney. But I think mostly it is just a personality clash for some.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder Phantom covered most of the Hill problem pretty well. A LOT of it goes back many years when the Disney fan sites were in their salad days and many people involved were living out and/or displaying their personal crises and issues for all to see. Hill also has been accused of passing along gossip and rumor as the gospel truth, some of which he allegedly started himself. Moreover, he'll often take issue with criticism, even the honest kind that doesn't start out calling him names. I've always wondered how a guy who lives somewhere in the hinterlands of the Northeast can be as tied into inside Disney sources as he claims. Long distance information, even the e-mailed kind, has to leave something to be desired when there's no face to face interaction. How does one go about truly vetting something when the need arises from that far away?
Originally Posted By willthisbetheone Thanks for all the assistance. I guess that if you're writing on the Internet, people will take issue with you. I speak from experience. I occasionally write for a nostalgia website called RetroJunk, and while most of my articles have gotten good reviews, there have been a few bad comments here and there. Thankfully, the great majority of comments I receive are positive. Sincerely, John Kilduff
Originally Posted By SuzieQ My reasons are the same as Jim's. I did meet him once at the parks. I didn't care for his "I am god" attitude.
Originally Posted By Tiggirl I simply think most of what he writes is made up. I mean, really, all his quotes from people go like this: "Jim, I knew you'd be interesting in this, Jim. The truth is, Jim, that Disney has decided blah blah blah. And Jim, I don't have to tell you what that means, do I, Jim? So pass it along to your readers, Jim." Who talks like that?! No one I know. So I assume it his quotes are bogus then so is the rest of his info. ~Beth
