The trouble with online journalism
March 16, 2010
Hereโs a provocative quote from a Toronto Globe and Mail column on the perils of online journalism. โWhen journalism becomes nothing more than digital hits, the more provocative you areโoften, the more obnoxious you areโthe higher the hit count,โ said Richard Gruneau, a Simon Fraser University professor of popular culture and media.
In that sense, the system pressures you to become a dick. Who cares if what you say is good, let alone whether there is any truth in it or not? When everything becomes opinion, the most opinionated, most strident and least compromising โjournalistsโ are the ones who rattle enough cages, or inspire enough like-minded devotees, to build the hit count. And if you can somehow get the people you piss off arguing with your devotees, then your hit count will really soar.