Monday, October 20, 2003
High Wire Act
The New Republic's Gregg Easterbrook wrote a couple of sentences in his blog that may have been anti-Semitic. As a result, he lost his job at ESPN. Read Cosh or Sullivan or Drezner for more on this.
Sullivan wrote a great paragraph about the dangers of blogging:
Blogging is, indeed, a high-wire act. Looking back, I write about a quarter of a million words a year. The notion that I will not write something dumb, offensive or simply foolish from time to time is absurd. Of course I will. Writing is about being human. And blogging is perhaps one of the least protected, most human forms of writing we have yet discovered. It's like speaking on air, live. Yes, bloggers should take criticism. But they should be judged on the totality of their work, not their occasional screw-ups. Gregg has been attacked enough.
It's really easy to screw up when blogging. I've written stupid things here. Luckily, my husband is a harsh editor who let's me know when I'm being an idiot, and I quickly correct myself. It's easy to forget that people are actually reading what I write. Not a whole lot of people, but still.
Part of why I'm keeping this blog is that it is fun to write without going through a peer review and to have my ideas published instantly. It refreshing to bypass the usual two year lag between writing and publication. Spontaneity has its downsides.
The New Republic's Gregg Easterbrook wrote a couple of sentences in his blog that may have been anti-Semitic. As a result, he lost his job at ESPN. Read Cosh or Sullivan or Drezner for more on this.
Sullivan wrote a great paragraph about the dangers of blogging:
Blogging is, indeed, a high-wire act. Looking back, I write about a quarter of a million words a year. The notion that I will not write something dumb, offensive or simply foolish from time to time is absurd. Of course I will. Writing is about being human. And blogging is perhaps one of the least protected, most human forms of writing we have yet discovered. It's like speaking on air, live. Yes, bloggers should take criticism. But they should be judged on the totality of their work, not their occasional screw-ups. Gregg has been attacked enough.
It's really easy to screw up when blogging. I've written stupid things here. Luckily, my husband is a harsh editor who let's me know when I'm being an idiot, and I quickly correct myself. It's easy to forget that people are actually reading what I write. Not a whole lot of people, but still.
Part of why I'm keeping this blog is that it is fun to write without going through a peer review and to have my ideas published instantly. It refreshing to bypass the usual two year lag between writing and publication. Spontaneity has its downsides.
