Mr Vidal worked for a spell as a scriptwriter in Hollywood.

ECONOMIST: American literature

Yang Xiaohui, a scriptwriter who has worked on many shows about the Japanese invasion, told the Global Times that there are certain principles when developing Japanese characters.

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Leave aside for a moment the corporate Punch and Judy show between First Group and Virgin and the Whitehall farce that even a scriptwriter on Yes Minister would have ditched as too ridiculous.

BBC: UK

Later he became a scriptwriter, reporter and presenter.

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Former chief minister M Karunanidhi was a film scriptwriter.

BBC: Poonam Dhillon

In fact, The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs reads as an edgy sitcom, written by a "Simpsons" or "South Park" scriptwriter.

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"A bad soap death is one that's so over the top, the spectacle overshadows what should be a tender moment, " says author Andrew Collins, the former EastEnders scriptwriter who killed off Nick Cotton's son Ashley (motorbike accident).

BBC: How to kill off a soap star

As scriptwriter, Mr Yong partly retains the epistolary form of the novel and can turn a witty phrase.

ECONOMIST: Morals and scandal

As if he had been peering over the scriptwriter's shoulder, it was the 28-year-old Vainikolo who broke the deadlock with a bullocking run down the left flank.

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