... to watch Citizen Journalism grow up, or, do something like grow up. Today we received a screed from Brian Lam of Gizmodo who takes a Lady MacBeth turn on the stage to let us know he feels dirty about how he's covered the health of Steve Jobs. Oh my. Poor boy. When combined with Michael Arrington's mid-winter breakdown over being played by rookie public relations drones finally makes me respect what I learned at the world's oldest school of journalism. There, in that rareified air, we learned to cover car wrecks, school lunch menus, industrial accidents, suicides, meetings at city hall, the harvest and the local little league. Like it? Great. Hate it? Then move on.
Please don't mistake what I've written with a lack of sympathy for Mr. Lam because I reached that same river, Quite Some Time Ago, and decided not to cross it. In fact, I couldn't help but smile when Mr. Lam apologizes to his parents in his screed because, when I decided to take a different path, I said, "My mother didn't raise me to do this." --Mr. Lam: With all due respect, sir, either get used to it or get off the bus.
