A New Media Link-Fest

Christopher Caldwell writes about the New Yorker/Obama mess and comes to a similar conclusion that we did in our comment section.

This problem would never have come up 20 years ago, when the only
people who read the New Yorker were subscribers. But today, billions of
people are a mouse-click away from being New Yorker “readers”. Enough
clicks and the cartoon begins to convey the opposite of what it meant
to. Under the influence of a hyperdemocratic medium like the internet,
you can’t say anything to anyone that won’t be heard by everyone….

Dan adds, "I’m not sure the problem is strictly about partisanship.  Methinks it’s
the witches brew of partisanship and the democratization of media."

I’ve been trying to ignore the "stealing the cracker"/death threat nonsense in the blogosphere. Nobody comes out clean in that fight, and I’m not going to even link to relevant posts. Use google.

Hendrik Hertzberg says that the netroots are quibbling about Obama’s flip flops. Gotta wonder if the Netroots is going to be able to make the switch from "the loyal opposition" to actually getting someone elected.

I only read the New York Times business section on Mondays, when it covers the media business. My husband’s stress level is a much better barometer of the general economy than anything I can read in the paper. I highly recommend Monday’s business section. I always look forward to David Carr’s column. Today’s column is a light piece about Facebook. (I’m due for a light post on Facebook.) Carr’s take on new media is a little stogy, but he knows the business really well and writes charming pieces. Last week, he dropped hints about his former crack habit. A few days later, I read an excerpt of his book at Gawker. And then there was the magazine piece this weekend. Great stuff. It adds a whole new angle to memoir writing.

Two big blog conferences happened this weekend: Netroots Nation (a much better title that Kosfest) and BlogHer. I’m looking around for good recaps.

A blogger makes six figures.