Wednesday, April 11th, 2007
Best…comment…ever
As part of my day job, I was reading a post on Comment is Free by Jonathan Freedland about the proposed blogger code of conduct following the threats against Kathy Sierra.
One commenter responded with some force and more than a little eloquence:
Must have been so nice to be a journalist or commentator in the old days. Just lock what you say in print and damn the masses. Times have changed. You can lock the doors, but then there’ll just be you.
Brilliant. Certainly there are risks to opening up and engaging, but this comment succinctly highlights the risks of doing nothing.
And just to be clear, this isn’t me having a go at a colleague on my own blog. I’d do Jonathan the professional courtesy of responding on Comment is Free, either in the comments or most likely in a proper post. This is just one of those brilliant comments that sums up some of the changes in media these days. It’s as if, suddenly journalists have been transported into the kitchens and lounges of our readers and viewers as they scream at the paper and swear at the telly.
There are some great comments on that post highlighting the range of opinion about blogging and freedom of speech online. If you’re running or considering running a site like Comment is Free, it’s well worth the effort to read.
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April 11th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
Sorry — this guy could not be more wrong. It’s never been safe to be a journalist. Journalists are imprisoned, assaulted and killed around the world every year.
I say this as a former journalist who was physically threatened (in person, in the newspaper office) and denounced (by a professor in a class in which I was enrolled) for things I wrote.
April 11th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
Jeffrey, I don’t think this is about physical safety - some journalists run real risks just to do their jobs, and I know Kevin has been on a hostile environments course lest he be sent to dangerous places where his life might be put at risk. Indeed, Kevin and I both share a friend who lost his foot, and a colleague, in Iraq.
This is about journalists who write from the safety of their own homes, and who lock themselves up in their ivory towers, treating their audience with disdain. I think one of the most distasteful aspects of British journalism (at least) is the way that columnists talk down to their readers, patronising them and telling them how to think and what to do. It’s this that the commenter is reacting to.
April 17th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
There are laws to protect the freedom of the press’s speech, but none that are worth anything to protect the people from the press.