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> Science journalists, much like journalists generally, are people too incompetent and emotional to work in the private sector, too dumb to be academics (and th
by bko 4y ago
> Science journalists, much like journalists generally, are people too incompetent and emotional to work in the private sector, too dumb to be academics (and the standards are abysmally low these days), too full of themselves to work in charity and too bumbling, weak and arrogant to work in a blue collar or manual occupation. Journalism is an attractive career to many because it demands the least rigor and honor and promises the greatest power and influence.
Harsh words towards journalists but I do think something has changed with journalism. It's much more narrative driven and attracts people who think they're doing missionary work. It's increasingly homogenous group of people who have the same politics, went to the same school and even date in the same circles. Was it always like this?
The weirdest one to me is the modern tech journalist, who ... hates tech? Here's NYT tech journalist Greg Bensinger's last articles (not cherry picked):
- OPINION How Illinois Is Winning in the Fight Against Big Tech
- EDITORIALS Twitter Under Elon Musk Will Be a Scary Place
- OPINION Spotify Backs Joe Rogan’s Disinformation Machine
- OPINION Why Uber Won’t Call the Police
I get it, they're editorials. But every article is a reiteration of tech bad. He never worked in tech. He's been a journalist his whole life. They're all like this. Here's the NYT op-ed columnists:
Ezra Klein: Worked for Howard Dean campaign and interned at Washington Monthly after graduating with a political science degree from University of California. Klein is married to a journalist
Jamelle Bouie: Worked at American Prospect shortly after graduating in political and social thought and government from University of Virginia
Michelle Goldberg: Worked at Salon after a masters in journalism from University of California
Paul Krugman: Career academic with a brief stint serving on Council of Economic advisers for Regan administration.
Gail Collins: Started writing for Connecticut publications after a bachelors in journalism and a masters in government
- Silica6149 4y agoHeadlines these days are made to get people to click and the narrative ones or the ones that say something controversial get more people to click and read the article. Most "tech" journalists are trying to appeal to a mass audience now. It is absurd.
- JohnHaugeland 4y agothat's not actually what journalism is today that's what reading reddit and facebook is
- MisterBastahrd 4y agoHeadlines are not articles. They're ads. Opinion pieces are not journalism.
- Grim-444 4y agoWhile that's true, I'd argue that the majority of the population isn't informed/intelligent enough to know the difference, which in my mind is the issue. Most will read an opinion piece and go off and parrot its contents as if they're fact.
- MisterBastahrd 4y agoThat's a very ivory towerish take. Most people know full well what the difference is between opinion and fact. They just choose to ignore it as it suits their purposes better. The big difference in terms of left and right politically in the US is that the right will buy into abhorrent behavior if it ultimately gets them what they want, while the left would still rather lose even if it costs real lives to pass their purity test.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- danaris 4y agoIn addition to what other replies have said, there's a huge difference between being against technology and being against big tech companies. I am a wholehearted proponent of technology. I am also very strongly against the trajectory over the past decade or so of Facebook and Google, the blatant disregard of companies like Uber and AirBnB for regulation (and their VC-funded price undercutting), and the entire blockchain/cryptocurrency sphere. Too much of Big Tech recently has been pushing in the direction of cyberpunk dystopia. I believe we need to be moving more toward solarpunk.