There’s always a gatekeeper

It’s a lovely libertarian-sounding sentiment:

Amazon wants to do away with gatekeepers. It promises a world where books are cheap, where anyone can publish anything, where there are no editors or distributors saying this is not what is selling now, go away.[1]

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  1. [1]David Streitfeld, “Hachette and Amazon Dig In for a Long Fight Over Contract Terms,” New York Times, May 28, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/29/technology/amazon-hachette-book-publisher-dispute.html

The Friendless Zone

There’s no way to say what I want to say without causing some offense.

The problem is this: Women are indeed at considerable risk of assault, often by “intimate partners,” especially in the United States.[1] And so, in the wake of a mass shooting, conducted by a shooter who complained that women wouldn’t date him, there has been an outcry by women who feel they’re being blamed for misogyny, expressed as rape, expressed as assault, expressed as killing,[2] and, women say, expressed in complaints about “friend-zoning”.[3] Read more

  1. [1]Sarah Kliff, “Eight facts about violence against women everyone should know,” Vox, May 25, 2014, http://www.vox.com/2014/5/25/5748610/eight-facts-about-violence-against-women-everyone-should-know
  2. [2]Alex Abad-Santos, “Why #yesallwomen is the most important thing you’ll read today,” Vox, May 25, 2014, http://www.vox.com/2014/5/25/5749480/why-yesallwomen-is-the-most-important-thing-youll-read-today
  3. [3]Alex Abad-Santos, “Why #yesallwomen is the most important thing you’ll read today,” Vox, May 25, 2014, http://www.vox.com/2014/5/25/5749480/why-yesallwomen-is-the-most-important-thing-youll-read-today

Money and the New York Times: The problem of journalism as a public good

I won’t say much regarding the controversial firing of Jill Abramson from the New York Times. There appears to be a prima facie case of sexism, whether on how much Abramson was paid or in a claim that she was “pushy,” against the Times’s publisher, Arthur Sulzberger, Jr.,[1] which he has utterly failed to refute,[2] and his abysmal handling of the matter raises severe questions as to whether he should continue to run the paper.[3] The problem here seems to be that Abramson—notice that the blame falls on her—did not get along with the family that owns the paper,[4] meaning that at the very least, Sulzberger could not tolerate an editor whom Nate Silver has been quoted claiming “did a hell of a lot more good for the New York Times than the upper management there,” who oversaw a news operation that brought in eight Pulitzer awards during her rather short tenure.[5] Read more

  1. [1]Ken Auletta, “Why Jill Abramson Was Fired,” New Yorker, May 14, 2014, http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/currency/2014/05/why-jill-abramson-was-fired.html; Ken Auletta, “Jill Abramson and the Times: What went wrong?,” New Yorker, May 15, 2014, http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2014/05/jill-abramson-and-the-times-what-went-wrong.html; Ken Auletta, “Why Jill Abramson Was Fired: Part Three,” New Yorker, May 18, 2014, http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/currency/2014/05/why-jill-abramson-was-fired-part-three.html; Ezra Klein, “There’s a simple explanation for Abramson’s ouster that the Times can’t give,” Vox, May 18, 2014, http://www.vox.com/2014/5/18/5727432/theres-a-simple-explanation-for-abramsons-ouster-that-the-times-cant; Tom McCarthy, “New York Times boss denies row over pay led to Abramson dismissal,” Guardian, May 15, 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/may/15/new-york-times-jill-abramson-exit; Katie McDonough, “Jill Abramson was right to get a lawyer: “Pushy” women get paid,” Salon, May 16, 2014, http://www.salon.com/2014/05/16/jill_abramson_was_right_to_get_a_lawyer_pushy_women_get_paid/; Ed Pilkington and Jessica Glenza, “Jill Abramson forced out as New York Times executive editor,” New York Times, May 14, 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/may/14/new-york-times-jill-abramson-forced-out; Catherine Thompson, “NYT Demands New Yorker Correct Its Story About Abramson’s Pay,” Talking Points Memo, May 16, 2014, http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/nyt-demands-correction-new-yorker-jill-abramson; Catherine Thompson, “NYT Fired Abramson Right After Asking Her To ‘Sign On For Some More Years’,” Talking Points Memo, May 16, 2014, http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/nyt-asked-jill-abramson-serve-more-time
  2. [2]Sarah Ellison, “Arthur Sulzberger’s First Interview About the Turmoil at The New York Times: ‘I Would Have Done It Differently’,” Vanity Fair, May 20, 2014, http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2014/05/arthur-sulzberger-interview-jill-abramson-firing; Josh Marshall, “Sulzberger Speaks!” Talking Points Memo, May 20, 2014, http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/sulzberger-speaks; Reuters, “Arthur Sulzberger: why Jill Abramson had to leave the New York Times,” Guardian, May 17, 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/may/18/arthur-sulzberger-jill-abramson-new-york-time; Ravi Somaiya, “Times Co. Chief Addresses Executive Editor’s Firing,” New York Times, May 16, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/17/business/media/times-co-chief-addresses-executive-editors-firing.html; Ravi Somaiya, “After Criticism, Times Publisher Details Decision to Oust Top Editor,” New York Times, May 17, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/18/business/times-publisher-denies-gender-figured-in-top-editors-dismissal.html
  3. [3]Ken Auletta, “Why Jill Abramson Was Fired: Part Three,” New Yorker, May 18, 2014, http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/currency/2014/05/why-jill-abramson-was-fired-part-three.html; Sarah Ellison, “Arthur Sulzberger’s First Interview About the Turmoil at The New York Times: ‘I Would Have Done It Differently’,” Vanity Fair, May 20, 2014, http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2014/05/arthur-sulzberger-interview-jill-abramson-firing; Josh Marshall, “Sulzberger Speaks!” Talking Points Memo, May 20, 2014, http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/sulzberger-speaks
  4. [4]Ezra Klein, “There’s a simple explanation for Abramson’s ouster that the Times can’t give,” Vox, May 18, 2014, http://www.vox.com/2014/5/18/5727432/theres-a-simple-explanation-for-abramsons-ouster-that-the-times-cant
  5. [5]Ed Pilkington and Jessica Glenza, “Jill Abramson forced out as New York Times executive editor,” New York Times, May 14, 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/may/14/new-york-times-jill-abramson-forced-out

A not-so-shining moment

May 17, 2014: This entry has been corrected since it was first published. I misremembered my grandmother’s language for Black people. She in fact referred to Blacks as ‘Colored’ rather than as ‘Negroes’.

It was not, I have to admit, one of my more shining moments.

A friend, whom I’ve known for over ten years, posted a mournful note on Facebook. It seems he’s going through a contested divorce, and his wife was testifying about all the horrible things he’d done, when all he had were countless memories of good times. Read more