Sarah D. Bunting
Encyclopedia
Sarah D. Bunting, also known online as Sars, is an American blogger and journalist, co-founder (with Tara Ariano) of Television without Pity. She has written for a number of magazines and journals, and has received coverage for her website Tomato Nation.
. The site, dedicated to critical commentary on the show, expanded its coverage to more shows, was renamed Mighty Big TV and eventually relaunched as Television Without Pity (TWoP). The site became both popular with fans and influential among television executive producer
s and screenwriter
s, as evidenced in cases as when Rescue Me
showrunner Peter Tolan
used it to publish an open letter to fans defending the depiction of rape in a controversial episode.
In a 2004 interview Bunting expressed skepticism about the effect that TWoP had on the creation of TV shows. She acknowledged nonetheless that certain shows had made evident nods toward the site's effects, including the positioning of a TWoP branded messenger bag in a background shot, and a West Wing
character's jibe at the moderator of a fictional internet message board "who I'm sure wears a muu-muu and chain smokes Parliaments." Bunting described the attentions of West Wing producer Aaron Sorkin, however ambivalent, as a net positive for the site: "If we're on his radar it's a good thing. And it drove up our page views."
With Ariano, Bunting published a TWoP spinoff book in 2006. The site was acquired by Bravo in 2007; Bunting and the other cofounders initially remained on the editorial staff before leaving in 2008.
and Ann Landers for younger people. As a relatively early and prominent blog, it was also among the subjects of Viviane Serfaty's 2004 book The mirror and the veil: an overview of American online diaries and blogs, in which Serfaty analysed Tomato Nation's use of humor in constructing an identity as a blogger.
Bunting's account of her experiences during the 9/11 terror attacks on New York in 2001 (she was working a few blocks from the World Trade Center
when the attacks began), first published at Tomato Nation, was syndicated on diarist.net and received print news attention.
, Salon
and New York Magazine. Her original play The Famous Ghost Monologues was performed at the Abingdon Theater, off-off-Broadway
, in 2004.
and attended Princeton University
, where she majored in English Literature. Prior to the establishment of Tomato Nation she had jobs as a church secretary, a records clerk, and a dealer in antique books. She lives in Brooklyn
.
Television Without Pity
Bunting and Ariano met online on a Beverly Hills 90210 fansite before in 1998 founding Dawson's Wrap, a website devoted to the TV soap Dawson's CreekDawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek is an American teen drama television series which debuted on January 20, 1998, on The WB Television Network and was produced by Sony Pictures Television. The show is set in the fictional seaside town of Capeside, Massachusetts, and in Boston, Massachusetts, during the later seasons...
. The site, dedicated to critical commentary on the show, expanded its coverage to more shows, was renamed Mighty Big TV and eventually relaunched as Television Without Pity (TWoP). The site became both popular with fans and influential among television executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
s and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
s, as evidenced in cases as when Rescue Me
Rescue Me (TV series)
Rescue Me is an American television drama series that premiered on the FX Network on July 21, 2004, and concluded on September 7, 2011. The series focuses on the professional and personal lives of a group of New York City firefighters in the fictitious Ladder 62 / Engine 99 firehouse.The show...
showrunner Peter Tolan
Peter Tolan
Peter James Tolan III is an American television producer, director, and screenwriter.-Early life and career:Tolan was born in Scituate, Massachusetts where he was a perrenial favorite in the high school's dramatic productions. Before leaving to pursue a career in Hollywood, Tolan founded a theater...
used it to publish an open letter to fans defending the depiction of rape in a controversial episode.
In a 2004 interview Bunting expressed skepticism about the effect that TWoP had on the creation of TV shows. She acknowledged nonetheless that certain shows had made evident nods toward the site's effects, including the positioning of a TWoP branded messenger bag in a background shot, and a West Wing
West Wing
The West Wing is the building housing the official offices of the President of the United States. It is the part of the White House Complex in which the Oval Office, the Cabinet Room, the Situation Room, and the Roosevelt Room are located...
character's jibe at the moderator of a fictional internet message board "who I'm sure wears a muu-muu and chain smokes Parliaments." Bunting described the attentions of West Wing producer Aaron Sorkin, however ambivalent, as a net positive for the site: "If we're on his radar it's a good thing. And it drove up our page views."
With Ariano, Bunting published a TWoP spinoff book in 2006. The site was acquired by Bravo in 2007; Bunting and the other cofounders initially remained on the editorial staff before leaving in 2008.
Tomato Nation
Bunting founded her website, TomatoNation.com, in 1997. The site drew attention for its advice column, The Vine, which journalists described as an edgier alternative to Dear AbbyDear Abby
Dear Abby is the name of the advice column founded in 1956 by Pauline Phillips under the pen name Abigail Van Buren and carried on today by her daughter, Jeanne Phillips, who now owns the legal rights to the pen name....
and Ann Landers for younger people. As a relatively early and prominent blog, it was also among the subjects of Viviane Serfaty's 2004 book The mirror and the veil: an overview of American online diaries and blogs, in which Serfaty analysed Tomato Nation's use of humor in constructing an identity as a blogger.
Bunting's account of her experiences during the 9/11 terror attacks on New York in 2001 (she was working a few blocks from the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
when the attacks began), first published at Tomato Nation, was syndicated on diarist.net and received print news attention.
Charity fundraising
In 2006 Bunting participated for the first time in a bloggers' challenge coordinated by fundraising site DonorsChoose.org, which allows teachers in disadvantaged US schools to bid for private donations to fund classroom projects. The Bloggers' Challenge (later Social Media Challenge) invited blog fans to compete to raise greater sums in donations than could readers of other blogs. Bunting pledged to shave her head in exchange for her readership raising $30,000 in donations. She again won the 2007 contest for Tomato Nation by raising $100,000 through reader donations, from an estimated reader base of 100,000 people. The feat was repeated with a $111,000 reader donation haul in 2008, and $314,158 of reader donations again won the challenge for Tomato Nation in 2009.Other writing
Bunting is a contributor to MSNBCMSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
, Salon
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
and New York Magazine. Her original play The Famous Ghost Monologues was performed at the Abingdon Theater, off-off-Broadway
Off-Off-Broadway
Off-Off-Broadway theatrical productions in New York City are those in theatres that are smaller than Broadway and Off-Broadway theatres. Off-Off-Broadway theaters are often defined as theaters that have fewer than 100 seats, though the term can be used for any show in the New York City area that...
, in 2004.
Personal life
Bunting was born and raised in New JerseyNew Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
and attended Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, where she majored in English Literature. Prior to the establishment of Tomato Nation she had jobs as a church secretary, a records clerk, and a dealer in antique books. She lives in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
.