Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Does He Have A Point?
This column from a commentator on the Los Angeles Times expresses what several journalists feel. They don't want to relate to readers. They want to talk to readers. The idea that they should get responses back to what they have written is foreign and distasteful.
One could call this a "caveman" philosophy, but on second thought, the columnist has a point. If he has done his job, he has considered several viewpoints before writing the column and taken one that he deems to be correct. Why should he spend time rebutting viewpoints he has dismissed already? On the other hand, he fails to understand that readers like students do not always get a point delivered in a lecture. They have to wrestle with the logic before grasping what a teacher is saying.
The column was written to be offensive and to generate comment, which it has. But, the writer's point is worth thinking about. Do we always have to relate to readers in the Internet age?
One could call this a "caveman" philosophy, but on second thought, the columnist has a point. If he has done his job, he has considered several viewpoints before writing the column and taken one that he deems to be correct. Why should he spend time rebutting viewpoints he has dismissed already? On the other hand, he fails to understand that readers like students do not always get a point delivered in a lecture. They have to wrestle with the logic before grasping what a teacher is saying.
The column was written to be offensive and to generate comment, which it has. But, the writer's point is worth thinking about. Do we always have to relate to readers in the Internet age?
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