5 ms·

"some anonymous individuals at a newspaper" ...you mean professional journalists who actually report on subjects of their expertise?

by lisa_q 10y ago

JoeAltmaier 10y ago
No I mean editors who determine what makes it on to the printed page.
- goatlover 10y ago
  Editors aren't also professionals who work with the journalists? What you're advocating for is a lot of amateur voices with limited resources in comparison and a plethora of personal agendas. It's more democratic than having a few professional curators. But is that better?
  - JoeAltmaier 10y ago
    Its varied. That's the point.
- niccaluim 10y ago
  Right. So, professional journalists with experience, and who are anything but anonymous.
  - JoeAltmaier 10y ago
    Except when they are, like with the Economist. Anyway, they're single voices, not a variety. So bubble.
VLM 10y ago
"professional journalists who actually report on subjects of their expertise" The world is full of domain experts who all know the journalists get everything wrong about their specialty, but out of misguided charity think its just an odd mistake and journalists in general know everything about every OTHER specialty and can't wait to read those stories. I'd love to read tech journalism from someone who has run a compiler on source code they themselves wrote. Its out there, but not at mainstream prestigious sites where all that matters is class rank at Columbia. The problem with newspapers is we have more than about 3. Back when they printed and delivered paper scaling meant we have 1000 substandard local papers all of which equally suck. Someday we'll have like 3 and they'll actually be worth reading. But a lot of jobs have to go away first. That's going to have interesting effect on journalism schools. Can you even run one, if there's only three small employers? May go back to the days when most journalists have a degree in something else.
ci5er 10y ago
Maybe a journalist is an expert on whatever it is that they are covering, and maybe they are not. Regardless, they are over-worked, spread-thin and the most erudite probably not universally syndicated. I've certainly experienced the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect myself (for years!), but each bump up against the practice of modern journalism makes me a little bit more disillusioned (and sad, because it is surely an important function.)
pjc50 10y ago
The UK press are spectacularly partisan. Brexit is their greatest achievement. The US press are more subtly handicapped by believing that the midpoint between partisans is "balanced". The Trump campaign is showing how ridiculous this can become.
flukus 10y ago
> .you mean professional journalists who actually report on subjects of their expertise? Go read the IT section of your local paper and see if you still think that.

"some anonymous individuals at a newspaper" ...you mean professional journalists who actually report on subjects of their expertise?

by lisa_q 10y ago

"some anonymous individuals at a newspaper" ...you mean professional journalists who actually report on subjects of their expertise?

JoeAltmaier 10y ago

No I mean editors who determine what makes it on to the printed page.

goatlover 10y ago
Editors aren't also professionals who work with the journalists? What you're advocating for is a lot of amateur voices with limited resources in comparison and a plethora of personal agendas. It's more democratic than having a few professional curators. But is that better?
- JoeAltmaier 10y ago
  Its varied. That's the point.
niccaluim 10y ago
Right. So, professional journalists with experience, and who are anything but anonymous.
- JoeAltmaier 10y ago
  Except when they are, like with the Economist. Anyway, they're single voices, not a variety. So bubble.

VLM 10y ago

"professional journalists who actually report on subjects of their expertise" The world is full of domain experts who all know the journalists get everything wrong about their specialty, but out of misguided charity think its just an odd mistake and journalists in general know everything about every OTHER specialty and can't wait to read those stories. I'd love to read tech journalism from someone who has run a compiler on source code they themselves wrote. Its out there, but not at mainstream prestigious sites where all that matters is class rank at Columbia. The problem with newspapers is we have more than about 3. Back when they printed and delivered paper scaling meant we have 1000 substandard local papers all of which equally suck. Someday we'll have like 3 and they'll actually be worth reading. But a lot of jobs have to go away first. That's going to have interesting effect on journalism schools. Can you even run one, if there's only three small employers? May go back to the days when most journalists have a degree in something else.

ci5er 10y ago

Maybe a journalist is an expert on whatever it is that they are covering, and maybe they are not. Regardless, they are over-worked, spread-thin and the most erudite probably not universally syndicated. I've certainly experienced the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect myself (for years!), but each bump up against the practice of modern journalism makes me a little bit more disillusioned (and sad, because it is surely an important function.)

pjc50 10y ago

The UK press are spectacularly partisan. Brexit is their greatest achievement. The US press are more subtly handicapped by believing that the midpoint between partisans is "balanced". The Trump campaign is showing how ridiculous this can become.

flukus 10y ago

> .you mean professional journalists who actually report on subjects of their expertise? Go read the IT section of your local paper and see if you still think that.