Joel Stein tells readers today he would rather talk at you than hear from you, I think it's all just a publicity stunt, but it seems to be working with forty-eight comments on Opinion LA.
Here's what Matt Welch said: The notorious JS has a column today telling readers not to bother e-mailing him, because "I don't want to talk to you, I want to talk at you." He does, however, offer this generous opportunity for interaction:
I'm asking my editors to build a page on opinion.latimes.com where, instead of e-mailing me, you can write about how arrogant I am. And maybe on this site, one brave person will write about how I'm right to stand up against this world of false, easy community, where columnists pretend they think their essays are no more valuable than yours, and friendship is a stranger who thanks you for the MySpace add.
So, this is where you come in. What have you always wanted to say to Joel Stein, or his editors? The floor is yours.
Yeah, I saw that too.
ReplyDeleteAnd he has a point. Traditionally, columnists and newspaper journalists have always said their piece and have not had to carry on an on-going conversation with the readers.
This shift, be it worthless or worthwhile, is one nonetheless. Whether it leads to better journalism is moot, since it doesn't. I don't want to write to Joel Stein, either. There are so many global sources of information, that my day doesn't just hinge on one journalist or columnist.