The first is the kind was described by Red Smith like this:
“Writing is easy. You just sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.”The second is the kind done by people like Tom Friedman (from Gawker):
Thomas Friedman Writes His Only Column Again
Hamilton Nolan
Fabulously wealthy CEO whisperer and newspaper columnist Thomas Friedman is little more than a human-shaped random word generator programmed with the "Computers and Internet" section of a fourth-grade vocabulary textbook and fitted with a mustache. He writes one single column, sometimes using different proper nouns or cycling through slightly new platitudes, in order to allow a new headline to be written. The Only Thomas Friedman Column That Exists—which ran right on schedule yesterday—opens like this:TRAVELING in Europe last week, it seemed as if every other conversation ended with some form of this question: Why does it feel like so few leaders are capable of inspiring their people to meet the challenges of our day?Whether traveling in Europe or Israel or Pakistan or The Arab Street, Thomas Friedman has astoundingly boring conversations with people who speak in vague, nonsensical phrases. He continues:There are many explanations for this global leadership deficit, but I'd focus on two: one generational, one technological."There are many explanations for [broad phenomenon], but I'd focus on two: one [generational, cultural, or sociological], one [technological, biological, scientific, or economic]." Thomas Friedman knows how to write a freshman-year research paper at the last minute.
...The latter method of arranging words on a page -- the Friedman method -- requires absolutely no effort whatsoever, is devoted entirely to protecting the policies and privileges of the political and economic elite, pays astonishingly well, confers upon the writer world-wide prestige, and shapes both the parameters of public discourse and the thinking of powerful people.
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