journalism

[Doug Millison]

Malign:
"The difference is that what you pass along here is--transparently and
despite
your protests otherwise--not offered to stimulate discussion, certainly
not
for reasons of quality, but because they support your particular
position. "


What?  For starters, you cannot possibly know that I don't offer these
articles to stimulate discussion, unless you have the ability to read my
mind.  It's hardly my fault if you choose not to engage the opinions that
these authors express, or if you deem them not worth discussing.  In  my
experience you're interested in discussing precious little on Pynchon-L,
your contribution here being insult and slur since you first appeared, not
comments of substance except for the very rare instance.   Again, you seem
to have a problem distinguishing the message from the messenger here. I
doubt you've actually read all the articles I've excerpted -- if you had,
you'd realize that they represent a much broader range than you seem to
think. That Riane Eisler interview, for example -- she expressed her
support for Bush's military adventure.  I don't agree with her on that, but
thought her insights into family dynamics worth reading, especially in the
context of Pynchon, who makes much of family dynamics and Freudian
psychology in his treatment of the War that never ends, and how governments
enlist support for same, in GR.  That's just one example. But, again, you
remain free to ignore any or all of these articles, or present a different
view, whatever.


Malign:
"Cutting and pasting isn't journalism. "

Really?  As I think about it,  passing along articles written by others
could be considered a part of journalism,   in the sense of an editor -- a
wire service editor at a daily newspaper, for example -- who chooses which
stories to run from a variety of news services, and who may take further
steps such as cutting to fit an available space, writing a new headline,
sub-headline, selecting pull-quotes, etc. That sort of editing is, of
course, part of journalism, too. It's not the same job that a reporter
does, doing research, interviewing people, taking pictures, and the like.
And it's not what the writer/rewrite person does, either -- taking feedback
from an editor and using that to inform cutting, padding, reshaping, and
otherwise writing and rewriting a draft of a story.  Nor is it the same job
that the artist/illustrator does in creating infographics to support an
article.  And so on.  But selecting and passing along articles for a
specific target audience is edging towards what a newspaper wire service
editor does, yes it does.  Journalism is quite a bit bigger, encompassing a
broader range of tasks and responsibilities, than you seem to realize.




Doug Millison - Writer/Editor/Web Editorial Consultant
millison at online-journalist.com
www.Online-Journalist.com