Eclectica / Links for July 7th
- It’s worth fighting for: On her blog, a Tampa newspaper intern praises her editor’s speech about newsroom change in the wake of layoffs, sparking a huge debate among veteran ink-stained wretches.
- Justice Dept. Admits Error in Not Briefing Court (NY Times): The Supreme Court’s ruling recently that convicted child rapists shouldn’t be subject to the death penalty depended on evidence from a review of existing law. After the ruling came down, a blogger found that some recent additions to the military code of justice undermine the courts argument — facts that you’d think the Bush Justice Department would have known. More incompetence on the administration’s side is hardly news, but it’s a notable instance of the “enough eyeballs” principle at work.
- Lamentations of the Father: Ian Frazier’s classic, more resonant to me now that I have been a parent lo these eight years:
Of the beasts of the field, and of the fishes of the sea, and of all foods that are acceptable in my sight you may eat, but not in the living room. Of the hoofed animals, broiled or ground into burgers, you may eat, but not in the living room. Of the cloven-hoofed animal, plain or with cheese, you may eat, but not in the living room.
- Can You Become a Creature of New Habits? - New York Times: I guess it’s not news that learning new things is good for you, but here’s some neurological explanations for why and how the brain-stretching happens.
- Dissecting today’s Internet traffic spikes - Esoteric Curio: Forecast: less and less predictable spikes in traffic to sites, including small sites, at greater and greater magnitude.
- An Attack That Came Out of the Ether - washingtonpost.com: Thorough, fascinating gumshoe effort traces the false “Obama is a Muslim” email to its murky roots. Why am I not surprised that the Freepers play a prominent role?
- J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement : Harvard Magazine: Rowling’s excellent talk focuses on the value of failure:
The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more to me than any qualification I ever earned.
Given a time machine or a Time Turner, I would tell my 21-year-old self that personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a check-list of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two. Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone’s total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes.
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July 11th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
“On her blog, a Tampa newspaper intern praises her editor’s speech about newsroom change in the wake of layoffs, sparking a huge debate among veteran ink-stained wretches.”
1. The main line from her speech apparently was regurgitated from another manager.
2. The intern said veteran journalists should “stop whining.”
3. The editor’s plan is the same destined-to-fail roll of the dice other newsrooms have attempted. It’s not new. It’s not innovative.
People who write books should know how to get facts. Perhaps you should write fiction, as you’ve done here.
July 11th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
(1) My description was factual and the link text expressed no particular endorsement for her post.
(2) She didn’t say anything about whining in this post — that, apparently, was in another post. In fact, though, I too believe that veteran journalists should stop whining and start figuring out what’s next. Newspapers have been in a slow downspin for as long as I’ve been a professional journalist, which is getting close to 30 years now. I worked in a daily newsroom for over a decade and left for the Web 13 years ago because I could see what was coming. I’m sorry it’s taken so many people so long to see the slow train barreling down the tracks at them, but now it’s here.
(3) I have no idea whether the editor’s plan is any good or not. I linked to the post mostly because I found the discussion interesting.
If you know that the editor’s plan is doomed, why don’t you tell us what you think a dying newspaper should do? And please don’t just say “they should do their jobs, cover their beats better and break more stories.” Because this is an economic problem, not a journalistic one.