methodhead's posterous

We Are in an Age of Post-journalism

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200910/media

On the characterization of Judge Sonia Sotomayor by the bloggers that posted her controversial quotes during her nomination:

I would describe their approach as post-journalistic. It sees democracy, by definition, as perpetual political battle. The blogger’s role is to help his side. Distortions and inaccuracies, lapses of judgment, the absence of context, all of these things matter only a little, because they are committed by both sides, and tend to come out a wash. Nobody is actually right about anything, no matter how certain they pretend to be. The truth is something that emerges from the cauldron of debate. No, not the truth: victory, because winning is way more important than being right. Power is the highest achievement. There is nothing new about this. But we never used to mistake it for journalism. Today it is rapidly replacing journalism, leading us toward a world where all information is spun, and where all “news” is unapologetically propaganda.

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Via NPR.

Related. I saw a show yesterday about selective cutting, the technique of cutting only some trees leaving others standing.  This allows more light in for the growing trees.  Long story short, this technique increases yield, but leaves the treeline intact.  Win-win.