3 ms·

Your 4th media style 'whacko bloggers' disrespects the many people writing very coherent, logical and well thought out commentaries and ideas. Yes there are pl

Your 4th media style 'whacko bloggers' disrespects the many people writing very coherent, logical and well thought out commentaries and ideas. Yes there are plenty of crazy people - always has been - but these days the MSM reproduces tweets and steals from bloggers. I would argue free speech on the internet is very important to counter all the yellow journalism, paid promo pieces and straight up propoganda...

specialist 10y ago
You have to be more than a little crazy to keep at it as long as I did. Fighting city hall doesn't pay very well. Burnout is intense. Opportunity costs. Family. Etc. Some are able to make the jump to a sustainable living. Greg Palast, Mark Crispin Miller, Glenn Greenwald, Amy Goodman, Digby? Struggling to think of examples. Having patronage, doing the book tour circuit, selling bling, commissions. Actually, I don't have any ready example of other wackos like me (working on local issues) that have been able to keep it (independently) up long term. Edit #1: Aha, I just thought of one. Alice Woldt and the Washington Public Campaigns crew have been plugging away for at least a decade. Edit #2: Oops. How could I forget my bestie Garret Cobarr's privacy work. His magnum opus book about privacy and identity should be out this spring. Gods willing, he'll be able to pay rent doing privacy work. And, for the record, Garret's at least as crazy as me. https://twitter.com/garrettcobarr https://twitter.com/garrettcobarr Activist bloggers do find gigs as reporters and policy wonks. I've seen some parlay their activism into a non-profit org 501(c)(3) that they then run. Some friends are doing that right now with regards to education funding. Though I doubt their org will become their full time jobs. Alas, I wasn't able to work the non-profit angle.

3 ms·

Your 4th media style 'whacko bloggers' disrespects the many people writing very coherent, logical and well thought out commentaries and ideas. Yes there are pl

by olivermarks 10y ago

specialist 10y ago
You have to be more than a little crazy to keep at it as long as I did. Fighting city hall doesn't pay very well. Burnout is intense. Opportunity costs. Family. Etc. Some are able to make the jump to a sustainable living. Greg Palast, Mark Crispin Miller, Glenn Greenwald, Amy Goodman, Digby? Struggling to think of examples. Having patronage, doing the book tour circuit, selling bling, commissions. Actually, I don't have any ready example of other wackos like me (working on local issues) that have been able to keep it (independently) up long term. Edit #1: Aha, I just thought of one. Alice Woldt and the Washington Public Campaigns crew have been plugging away for at least a decade. Edit #2: Oops. How could I forget my bestie Garret Cobarr's privacy work. His magnum opus book about privacy and identity should be out this spring. Gods willing, he'll be able to pay rent doing privacy work. And, for the record, Garret's at least as crazy as me. https://twitter.com/garrettcobarr https://twitter.com/garrettcobarr Activist bloggers do find gigs as reporters and policy wonks. I've seen some parlay their activism into a non-profit org 501(c)(3) that they then run. Some friends are doing that right now with regards to education funding. Though I doubt their org will become their full time jobs. Alas, I wasn't able to work the non-profit angle.