Monday, August 22, 2005
They never learn
A little surprising to see The New Yorker do a mild take on Hugh Hewitt, blogger, author of subtle tomes [If It's Not Close, They Can't Cheat: Crushing the Democrats in Every Election and Why Your Life Depends on It] and radio host. The author, Nicholas Lemann, is the Dean of my alma mater, The Columbia J-School. Here's an interesting line from his piece:
Actually, I can confidently predict that this prediction is wrong, and that none of this will happen, at least not in the blogosphere. This is because the New Yorker does not provide an on-line version of the piece, so it cannot be linked to, it cannot be discussed, and may as well have never been written. Just another example of how, I'm afraid, the old-time media just does not "get it." If I've learned anything in the last few months of blogging, it's that this article would have made the major rounds, and would have likely exposed a good many people to The New Yorker who might otherwise not have been inclined to read it.
Hewitt's thoughts here.
I experienced a similar situation after writing a piece on Jeff Jarvis of BuzzMachine. So I pulled it off Lexis and threw it on this blog. Nyah.
P.S. The more I think about it, the more I think Lemann missed out on portraying Hewitt's bellicose ways. He may be a nice guy on the radio and in person, but he is, I submit, a hack and ideologue on his blog. See here, here, and here for more.
Writes John Cole (a right-libertarian, from what I can tell):
I think that about nails it.
UPDATE: To see more of Cole batting Hewitt around the ears read both here and here.
Another thing I can confidently predict is that after this article appears activists on the left will put Hugh Hewitt forward as an example of the well-oiled quality of the Republican media operation, because of the efficiency and prolixity of his efforts to disseminate the Party's message. If bloggers can respond to political developments within seconds, it must be O.K. for me to speed up the cycle of discourse just one more click and defend Hewitt in advance against this as yet unmade charge.
Actually, I can confidently predict that this prediction is wrong, and that none of this will happen, at least not in the blogosphere. This is because the New Yorker does not provide an on-line version of the piece, so it cannot be linked to, it cannot be discussed, and may as well have never been written. Just another example of how, I'm afraid, the old-time media just does not "get it." If I've learned anything in the last few months of blogging, it's that this article would have made the major rounds, and would have likely exposed a good many people to The New Yorker who might otherwise not have been inclined to read it.
Hewitt's thoughts here.
I experienced a similar situation after writing a piece on Jeff Jarvis of BuzzMachine. So I pulled it off Lexis and threw it on this blog. Nyah.
P.S. The more I think about it, the more I think Lemann missed out on portraying Hewitt's bellicose ways. He may be a nice guy on the radio and in person, but he is, I submit, a hack and ideologue on his blog. See here, here, and here for more.
Writes John Cole (a right-libertarian, from what I can tell):
His blog reads like Pravda on the Potomac and his radio show is really one of the best right-wing radio shows- the contrast is really, from my perspective, amazing...On his blog, though, it just seems to be partisan shit-slinging and re-writes of Ken Mehlman RNC press releases, so even when I think he is mostly right, it pisses me off.
I think that about nails it.
UPDATE: To see more of Cole batting Hewitt around the ears read both here and here.
Permalink posted by Jonathan : 4:52 PM
