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TNR's coverage of Amazon has been astonishingly biased. For instance, they printed a ridiculous article by advice columnist Margot Howard, whose book was poorly

TNR's coverage of Amazon has been astonishingly biased. For instance, they printed a ridiculous article by advice columnist Margot Howard, whose book was poorly reviewed by Amazon customers and who concluded that readers couldn't possibly come up with a useful review. She wrote: '"Book Reviewer" is considered a profession, and reviews are done by other writers. Good sense would seem to militate against any group of people unschooled in creative and critical reviewing coming up with a worthwhile review.'[1] I think that, when it comes to Amazon, TNR has a giant chip on its shoulder. I think a lot of this criticism has to do with a liberal arts-educated, New York and Washington-based cultural elite that sees itself as eclipsed by Seattle and Silicon Valley upstarts who studied computer science. [1]http://www.newrepublic.com/article/119875/margo-howard-amazon-vine-reviewers-sabotaged-my-book http://www.newrepublic.com/article/119875/margo-howard-amazo...

hkmurakami 12y ago
As a former DE Shaw guy, Bezos sure knows how to stick it to New York and Wall Street. I had a good laugh when I read about their latest bond offering (very smart considering the interest rate environment and the impending rate hikes) and Moody's subsequent downgrade. Bezos is trolling Wall Street and Wall Street is not happy.
integraton 12y ago
The New Republic's majority owner, publisher, and editor in chief is Chris Hughes, one of the Facebook cofounders.
cafard 12y ago
My complaint about Amazon reviews is that they are way too soft. Ms. Howard's piece reminds me of an essay of Paul Fussell's on the "ABM: Author's Big Mistake", namely complaining in public about bad reviews. (I live in Washington, and studied the liberal arts as an undergraduate. But so far nobody has identified me as part of the cultural elite. I'd love to blame this Amazon, but can't quite see how.)

hkmurakami 12y ago

As a former DE Shaw guy, Bezos sure knows how to stick it to New York and Wall Street. I had a good laugh when I read about their latest bond offering (very smart considering the interest rate environment and the impending rate hikes) and Moody's subsequent downgrade. Bezos is trolling Wall Street and Wall Street is not happy.

integraton 12y ago

The New Republic's majority owner, publisher, and editor in chief is Chris Hughes, one of the Facebook cofounders.

cafard 12y ago

My complaint about Amazon reviews is that they are way too soft. Ms. Howard's piece reminds me of an essay of Paul Fussell's on the "ABM: Author's Big Mistake", namely complaining in public about bad reviews. (I live in Washington, and studied the liberal arts as an undergraduate. But so far nobody has identified me as part of the cultural elite. I'd love to blame this Amazon, but can't quite see how.)