"Part of what you're responding to is those instantaneous, quick, e-mails and twitter posts. The reward is for being clever. The reward isn't for being earnest."
Emily Bazelon; Slate Gabfest 6/25/09 18:05
Tyler Durden: Oh I get it, it's very clever.
Narrator: Thank you.
Tyler Durden: How's that working out for you?
Narrator: What?
Tyler Durden: Being clever.
Narrator: Great.
Tyler Durden: Keep it up then...
Fight Club
Leo Laporte, the podcaster and radio host went on and on a few weeks ago with out the news business is changing. The Iranian people who felt betrayed by the "free and fair" election were not allowed to express their outrage in the media. They took to the streets, twitter and facebook. Laporte and more than a few others saw this as the first instance of the new citizen journalism.
Jason Jones from "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central visited the New York Times and in an "interview" with Rick Berke, assistant managing editor pointed to the paper and asked, "Give me one thing in there that happened today?" Of course, the paper being what it is, he had no real answer. His answer should have been that there are quite a few developing or ongoing stories, and "For the latest news, go to nytimes.com"
Why is faster news better? Why do we have distain for last week's news or the last minute's news? As the speed of news increases, the importance of analysis is lost.
What is happening to our collective memory? Do we forget everything after Time, Newsweek and Meet the Press? I have a problem with "news cycles" and just how quickly Americans forget things that happened last month or last year. For example, President Obama's recent speech trying to get more regulation in the banking sector. He had to remind reporters just how close this country came to a complete financial meltdown. Had they / we forgotten? Does anyone remember that speech?
Can we at least try and remember the issues that are important to us? Can we remember human rights? Can we remember North Korea? Iraq? Tibet? Gun control? I remember Myanmar and the protests by the Tibetian Monks. There is so much work to be done. Can one of the left-leaning organizations stay on one issue and follow through? I don't care which or what but they're all running around like chickens for funding and constituents. If you build it, they will come. I gotta go.
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