Links for 2011-07-29

  • “Digital news is broken. Actually, news itself is broken. Almost all news organizations have abandoned reporting in favor of editorial; have cultivated reader opinion in place of responsibility; and have traded ethical standards for misdirection and whatever consensus defines as forgivable. And this is before you even lay eyes on what passes for news design on a monitor or device screen these days.”
  • “3-Loudly Accuse A Famous And Successful Author Who Is No Doubt A Personal Friend Of Any Number Of People At The Conference Of Being A Cheap Hack/Sellout/Lousy Writer

    Contrary to popular belief, the appropriate response to this one is not “Who the @#$# are you?” It is to write you off as a loudmouthed jerkwad. The people who like or respect the author you’re slagging are going to assume you don’t know what you’re talking about, and not like you. The folks who might agree that Successful Author X actually does kind of suck are still going to think your “Sales = Lame” rant is jejune. (They’re also going to be familiar with the proper use of the word “jejune”) And fans of the writer in question – who will no doubt outnumber both your fans and you – may in fact make their displeasure known.”