Journalism trades in the ephemeral
The newsroom is not a place toward which greatness naturally gravitates. Journalism trades in the ephemeral. Those who practice it tend to imagine that the ephemeral has consequence and that, accordingly, so do they. Mencken knew this to be malarkey, and he said as much in his splendidly acerbic essay “Journalism in America.” People who imagine this is not the case are counseled to examine the journalism shelves of used-book stores, lined as they are with collection after collection of columns, reviews, and news reports that were stillborn at publication.
Jonathan Yardley, reviewing Terry Teachout’s
biography The Skeptic
[x]#1007 fan vrijdag 14 januari 2005 @ 18:45:58
