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They're not killing it off, they're dumbing it down. Other members of the trend are Gawker, Buzzfeed, Vox: tabloid clickbait used as a vehicle for leftist ideol

They're not killing it off, they're dumbing it down. Other members of the trend are Gawker, Buzzfeed, Vox: tabloid clickbait used as a vehicle for leftist ideology.

jonathansizz 12y ago
As far as I'm aware, TNR was a mainstream Democrat publication. Certainly in no way 'leftist'.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
djur 12y ago
Vox and Gawker have vaguely liberal editorial positions, but I don't think there's anything remotely leftist or ideological about either of them. Buzzfeed is the outlet that published a damning expose of the folly of big government that consisted of photographs of cracked and stained concrete and ugly sculptures around government buildings. The author of said piece eventually got fired, but only for blatant plagiarism. As a leftist, I have to confess to being baffled as to what aspects of my ideological position are being promoted by Gawker, Vox, and Buzzfeed.
- mcantelon 12y ago
  Leftist is a pretty broad term. I'm talking more the flippant "pop leftism" that's emerged that de-prioritizes traditional class-based analysis and implies that a big state is a potential vehicle for enforcing leftist ideals. Not sure the best name for this variant. Example of the kind of Rupert Murdoch-level analysis pop leftism pumps out: http://gawker.com/white-men-upset-wrong-white-man-placed-in-charge-of-whi-1666925379 http://gawker.com/white-men-upset-wrong-white-man-placed-in-...
  - djur 12y ago
    "Up yours, squares!" is not a leftist position, though. I don't see any ideological content there you couldn't find on South Park. And Gawker sells "up yours, squares" because that's what sells, not because Nick Denton is interested in promoting some kind of agenda. The only agenda Nick Denton promotes is filling his wallet.
m-photonic 12y ago
"Leftist ideology used as a vehicle for tabloid clickbait" would be more accurate.
- mcantelon 12y ago
  Yeah, it's a symbiotic relationship.

They're not killing it off, they're dumbing it down. Other members of the trend are Gawker, Buzzfeed, Vox: tabloid clickbait used as a vehicle for leftist ideology.

jonathansizz 12y ago

As far as I'm aware, TNR was a mainstream Democrat publication. Certainly in no way 'leftist'.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

djur 12y ago

Vox and Gawker have vaguely liberal editorial positions, but I don't think there's anything remotely leftist or ideological about either of them. Buzzfeed is the outlet that published a damning expose of the folly of big government that consisted of photographs of cracked and stained concrete and ugly sculptures around government buildings. The author of said piece eventually got fired, but only for blatant plagiarism. As a leftist, I have to confess to being baffled as to what aspects of my ideological position are being promoted by Gawker, Vox, and Buzzfeed.

mcantelon 12y ago
Leftist is a pretty broad term. I'm talking more the flippant "pop leftism" that's emerged that de-prioritizes traditional class-based analysis and implies that a big state is a potential vehicle for enforcing leftist ideals. Not sure the best name for this variant. Example of the kind of Rupert Murdoch-level analysis pop leftism pumps out: http://gawker.com/white-men-upset-wrong-white-man-placed-in-charge-of-whi-1666925379 http://gawker.com/white-men-upset-wrong-white-man-placed-in-...
- djur 12y ago
  "Up yours, squares!" is not a leftist position, though. I don't see any ideological content there you couldn't find on South Park. And Gawker sells "up yours, squares" because that's what sells, not because Nick Denton is interested in promoting some kind of agenda. The only agenda Nick Denton promotes is filling his wallet.

m-photonic 12y ago

"Leftist ideology used as a vehicle for tabloid clickbait" would be more accurate.

mcantelon 12y ago
Yeah, it's a symbiotic relationship.