In an interview with der Spiegel last month, Wired's Chris Anderson declared "journalism," "media," "news," and "newspapers" to be among the victims:
Sorry, I don't use the word "media." I don't use the word "news." I don't think that those words mean anything anymore. They defined publishing in the 20th century. Today, they are a barrier. They are standing in our way, like a horseless carriage.Anderson then proceeded to dig up their bones to further his point:
I read lots of articles from mainstream media but I don't go to mainstream media directly to read it. It comes to me, which is really quite common these days. More and more people are choosing social filters for their news rather than professional filters. We're tuning out television news, we're tuning out newspapers. And we still hear about the important stuff, it's just that it's not like this drumbeat of bad news. It's news that matters.Maybe we should let those social filters work a while longer before we change the dictionaries.
In related news, NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen added his own word to the hit list, telling fishbowlLA that "blogger" wasn't long for the world. Somehow I don't think many people will miss it if it goes.
Posts
3 comments:
And speaking of irrelevant, let me introduce you to Wired's Chris Anderson.
Gosh, he sounds almost like Lee Abrams. Just as cluelessly pompous, but not as wordy.
People like Anderson are precisely why the so-called "mainstream media" -- which still, most of the time, tries to do actual news stories fairly and straightforwardly -- must be preserved. I like how he says the news "comes to him," and that "somehow" he still finds out the important stuff. Hey Anderson, why don't you and your ilk help a few more newspapers and magazines go out of business with your decrees that print is dead, and see how well your Web aggregators work bringing you the "important" stuff? It'll be all Britney and Octomom "news" from totally unbiased and clear-thinking celebrity Web sites, all the time! Congratulations, Mr. Blinded By The All-Powerful Internet.
Post a Comment