That guy from WSJ has some unresolved blog issues
7December 20, 2006 by Colin
I know Steve‘s seen the op/ed in the Wall Street Journal today. I was deliberating how to react, if at all, when it struck me: I’ve always judged the strength of an argument by the language used by the principal. Mr. Joseph Rago surely loves the looong word. The sophisticated word. The intellectual word. The “I’m the only guy in my graduating class not to throw away my rhetoric notebook on the last day of school” word.
Joseph Rago, WSJ: Blogs Suck! Jeez, What a Grump!…
In a pompous editorial today, Joseph Rago at the Wall St Journal rags on blogs as unjournalistic mobs. And he certainly has a mob of bloggers on his ass now because of it. Jeez, what a fatuous grump he is. Rago uses the words logorrheic and solipsistic…
Hmmm… dilitory and circumlocutory language aside…:-)… personally, I think he has a point.
Yes, he has a point – when he isolates his argument to target political blogs and personal diaries.
I stand by my point – and my only point – that he harms his argument by emphasizing his extensive vocabulary.
What can I say – I can use the “ten dollar words,” the “Toronto words” but I prefer not to.
A commenter on Rubel’s blog made the accurate observation that his op/ed was entirely appropriate and accurately phrased for the WSJ’s target audience.
It’s funny to see the blogosphere spin itself into a frenzy, though.
It is funny… and, to some degree, the reaction from some bloggers simply reinforce his point…
The Gutnenberg reference always makes me laugh. It seems that blogs are more like Brownie cameras. They tarnsformed a complex technical process into a push button solution. Culturally the Brownie camera changed the way that we saw things and allowed for sharing amongst our circle of family and friends. This changed the dyamics of picture taking – materpieces could be created without masters.
Blog cultue is somewhat more hyper in its connectivity so mountains out of molehills come faster and with more frequency. Not all Blogs are equal in the same way that High School, Community Theater and a Broadway productions can work the same materials to different ends.
Although much of the criticism of MSM is well deserved, Blog culture probably could do wirth some self reflection as well. Though Mr Rago may not be the best at articulating some of the problems with the format it doesn’t mean that they aren’t there and should be examined in less confrontaional terms.
That is a fantastic comparison, the contrast between the Gutenberg press and the Brownie camera.
Thanks!
[...] In commenting on my post about big words, Ron Diorio used a fantastic analogy: “The Gutnenberg reference always makes me laugh. It seems that blogs are more like Brownie cameras. They tarnsformed a complex technical process into a push button solution. Culturally the Brownie camera changed the way that we saw things and allowed for sharing amongst our circle of family and friends. This changed the dyamics of picture taking – masterpieces could be created without masters.” [...]