Splicetoday

Politics & Media
Sep 10, 2008, 07:02AM

Your ego's writing checks your journalism can't cash

The three-headed watchdog that is CJR published this piece that takes the weeklies of Denver and St. Paul to task for not offering relevant coverage of the respective political conventions. It seems that both sides are wrong in this case: CJR overextends its condescending voice, and weeklies are, overall, not doing so hot on the relevancy front. Be sure to check the comment thread, where several editors of the weeklies in question weigh in.

Is that the best these cross-linking alt weekly sites could do? Consolidation of the alt weeklies under VVM has had loyal readers biting their nails for years, and the above appear to be the somewhat sad results: easy humor posing as cleverness, recycled points of view, and a depressing lack of freshness. Where were the witty pinpricks to the two-party political underbelly this past week, or barring that, the stories that were simply original?

It’s too late now, but next time—even with the Hand of Homogenizing Editorial Taste caressing your back—it might help to keep a couple of things in mind.

Discussion

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