Posted on 08/06/2008 2:39:53 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
With media stocks plummeting, a noisy army of pundits is predicting the imminent extinction of print newspapers and magazines. I hope they're wrong--for two reasons.
The obvious reason is self-interest: If freebie blogs and news aggregators kill off the National Post and its ilk, then I'm going to have to go back to my high school job, manning the drive-thru at McDonald's.
But I have a more noble reason, too: a genuine, altruistic desire for an educated citizenry. Not to be old-fashioned, but there are certain kinds of important stories that simply cannot be covered, except by deep-pocketed traditional media organizations employing professional journalists.
This thought struck me with particular force on Sunday, as I read "Malwebolence," Mattathias Schwartz's extraordinary article about Internet trolls in this week's issue of The New York Times Magazine.
You probably have met an Internet troll -- even if you don't know the term. They are the juvenile cretins who infest Internet message boards, taunting the earnest types chatting away about Gossip Girl, or Barack Obama, or Scientology. Their method is to post willfully ignorant, insulting messages, then sit back and enjoy the righteous, impotent fury aroused among the true believers.
Trolling is an inherently nihilistic activity -- which is why most trolls tend to be adolescent males, the sort of specimens who would otherwise entertain themselves by using bathroom graffiti to libel the sexual habits of high-school classmates. But there is a small elite that has turned trolling into a full-time calling. They congregate on anonymous Web sites such as 4chan.org, and informally tally the "lulz" they've earned by humiliating others.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalpost.com ...
This guy sounds like one of those who commit suicide and leave a note telling the rest of us we’ll be sorry he’s gone.
Count me out.
Man, they've even given up on literacy. In yesterday's "Daily Progress (guffaw!) of Charlottesville, the word "drug" was used as a perfect passive participle of the verb "to drag". "He was drug out of the house," (where "of the" is optional.)
They can't speak or write. They don't care to do research. They think impartiality is unattainable and truth non-existent.
A few weeks ago the headline and lead paragraphs of a story contradicted what was said a few paragraphs later. It's beyond a joke now.
No more Maureen Dowd, how could I live with myself?
OK maybe. Go away and give me about 20 years for it to sink in and I will let you know by then whether I miss you or not, deal?
“But I have a more noble reason, too: a genuine, altruistic desire for an educated citizenry. “
Seems to me, we’re sick of the lop-sided “education” we’ve been “receiving”. McDonald’s is a better employment opportunity choice for you. You can then go out and discover what trying to make a living is REALLY like.
And now the author of this column sits back and awaits the fury aroused among the true believers. Sounds like he fits his own definition.
This man took a good point and made it stupid. His example story of praise (the NYT troll story) could easily have been done by someone on their own.
But, he makes a mockery of a good point. We do need the old style media. We just need them to do what he claims they do — EDUCATE and inform. They currently do neither and that is why they are failing!
Jonathan,
Sorry, but I haven’t read a hardcopy newspaper since 1990. The web is just fine and in the past 10 years it is even better with the advent of bloggers and easy access to conservative sites.
Not sure it ever really existed (or is necessary for that matter). What we are experiencing with the New Media is a refreshing honesty as to where the point of view is coming from.
Admitting one's bias allows the individual news gatherer to truly analyze the issue from different perspectives and to accept or reject the argument on its merits.
Exactly why they're in trouble.
Miss you?.....all I need to do is go to DU and/or KOS to find out what I’m missing.....now if you did your jobs professionally and unbiased I might have a different opinion....
Such as the NYT??? Read the National Enquirer. NE at least objective, and I don't think in danger of going broke.
Impartiality = never was, never will be. Period.
Nixon inspired several generations of narcissistic leftist journalists that developed into the rot we have today.
The media won’t go away, but it will be transformed. The result will be healthier, smaller, slimmer and more agile. Sort of like what happened to the defense industry in 1991-2000.
“you’ll miss us when we’re gone.”
sure. just as pravda and izvestia were missed by hard-core, self-appointed, brilliant intellectual party members.
I read leftist newspapers and come away with an impression that they embrace three major themes -
1) You’re stupid.
2) We hate you and your hard-earned wealth and natural liberties.
3) Get on your knees, slave, and be fitted for chains.
Did I miss any?
“altruistic desire for an educated citizenry...”
translation: “my desire for an indoctrinated and propagandized electorate would be frustrated. un-biased information would set the leftist movement behind...”
But I have a more noble reason, too: a genuine, altruistic desire for an educated citizenry.
Then why are you and so many mediots like you so astoundingly LIBERAL?
The media's job is to INFORM, not "educate", dirtbag. The bloggers are the only ones now that will present all sides - because they are willing to admit their point of view, not hide it behind a false veil of objectivity.
Now repeat after me, "Would you like that super-sized?"
Impartiality = never was, never will be. Period.
I agree. The first rule of journalism either is, or ought to be, "Admit and state your bias up front" (instead of sneaking it into your reporting).
While we're on the subject, why does NBC have a "Political Director"? NBC has always had an unstated left wing bias in their reporting. Now, with a "Political Director", they are institutionalizing the bias within the organization. If media is going to have "Political Directors", they should have at least two, each with an opposing bias.
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