The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    Michael Wolraich's picture

    Genghis Speaks: Journalism in the 21st Century - Blogs and Social Media

    By Michael Wolraich on Tue, 08/27/2013 - 11:03am | Media

    Hello folks. I'm sorry you haven't heard much from me lately. My nose is pressing hard against the proverbial grindstone as I race to finish my book by October. It has a new title, by the way...

    Unreasonable Men: Theodore Roosevelt and the Republican Rebels Who Created Progressive Politics

    In the meantime, I'd like to share a video from a journalism conference that I participated in last January at the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. Historians have eagerly anticipated the release of this raw, unscripted Q/A session, which offers new insight into the mind of the Blogger Formerly Known As Genghis during the pivotal period before he achieved worldwide fame and fortune.

    The subject of the panel discussion is "Journalism in the 21st Century: Blogs and Social Media."

    You might want to skip to the 3:00 mark because the first question was cut off, and anyway, that bit is boring.

    My co-moderators are David Freedlander, senior political correspondent at the Daily Beast (right) and Blake Hounshell, managing editor of Foreign Policy magazine (center).

    For my blog posts related to this conference, see "The Information Jacuzzi," parts one and two.

    PS If you haven't signed up for my book mailing list, you can subscribe here.

    Topics: 
    Media

    Comments

    I am just a half an hour thru this, but this is interesting.

    You guys were talking about 'clicks' and I just read this short piece by Joan Walsh and she is writing about Ingraham's radio show.

    I guess Ingraham was running part of John Lewis' speech and she cut it with the sound of a gunshot for chrissakes!

    http://www.salon.com/2013/08/27/the_despicable_laura_ingraham_outdoes_herself/

    The right wing is just better at this stuff. These people do not give a damn about political niceties or 'appropriate behavior' or 'good conduct' or the effect their shock tactics might have upon a certain fringe element.

    Anyway, I shall come back to the panel discussion throughout the day.

    Thank you for this interesting discussion by real writers.


    by Richard Day on Tue, 08/27/2013 - 3:42pm

    I'm glad that you enjoyed it (though I insist that you are as real a writer as any of these guys).

    PS Arianna Huffington is the queen of clicks, actually, which is why her readership dwarfs Drudge and every other conservative site. The right is very good at cable and radio. They haven't quite mastered the "internets."


    by Michael Wolraich on Tue, 08/27/2013 - 8:58pm

    Slowly making my way through the video in small bites. In the meantime and in case you missed them, here are a couple of links on topic that I just read:

    Can Rupert Murdoch hold on to Kara Swisher? | Felix Salmon

    Who is the best journalist (so far) of the new millennium? Who has best embraced the opportunities afforded by digital media, and used them to deliver breaking news and incisive opinion to the greatest effect? Put like that, it’s hard to wind up with any name other than Kara Swisher.
     
    As David Carr and Jay Rosen will tell you at length, we live in a world of the opinionated scoopmonger — a world where a handful of brand-name journalists, wearing their opinions proudly, create a virtuous cycle of news. Ezra Klein is a good example: he is both very smart and incredibly well-sourced in Washington, which in turn lends a lot of credibility to his opinions. Because policymakers read him and respect him, they reach out to him and talk to him — which in turn gives him insight, for his opinions, and also scoops, which only serve to consolidate his importance.
     
    When Nate Silver packed his FiveThirtyEight.com flag into a box this summer and trundled it from the New York Times, where it had flown for the last three years, for planting at ESPN, he cemented his status as one of the Marquee Brothers, that fraternity of overachieving reporters whose journalistic triumphs have inspired media outlets to grant them nation-state status inside the greater organization.
     

    by EmmaZahn on Wed, 08/28/2013 - 3:50pm

    Thanks. I had read the second one--AA posted it--but not the first.

    I'm not sure if you saw it, but I made a comment about this phenomenon in the talk. I certainly agree that it's happening. And I think it's a good thing, mostly. It elevates great writing and interesting opinion over the bland newsprose that has been putting people to sleep for decades.

    So, all one has to do is become a brand name. ;)


    by Michael Wolraich on Wed, 08/28/2013 - 8:00pm