Bret Stephens / 1619

Chapter 1, Page 1, Sentence 1 of the new rulebook.

 

Here’s a list of the 10 greatest works of journalism of the past 10 years.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/life...cdbe0e-0d6e-11eb-8074-0e943a91bf08_story.html

8. The 1619 Project, New York Times Magazine.

These essays, published in 2019, together have ignited a culture war in America, as they explore the beginning of American slavery. The project, said the judges, “reframes the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of our national narrative.”

Not sure this list merits its own thread. No surprises, really.

 

No disrespect taken. I paraphrased that line from one of Lancey Howard's statements, which I inferred as, using 1619 Project (with all of its possible flaws) for educational purposes wouldn't be so bad.

The excerpts that I saw in my perusal of Stephens' critique did give me pause, however, about the value of the 1619 Project, unalloyed, as an educational tool (assuming the excerpts were excerpted accurately).

 

Lists are notoriously difficult, of course, but Sara Ganim's work on Sandusky doesn't make the list? Not a single work on the opioid epidemic? Or Newtown? Or Elle Reeve's work on Charlottesville? Hell, Ronan Farrow didn't make the cut? It seems incomplete.

 

Hard to argue with what's on the list, but as you say there are lots of other big pieces missing.

I always default to Don DeLillo in cases like this, because the quote identifies what's happened to content of every kind in every medium over the last few decades:

"Lists are a form of cultural hysteria."

I blame Letterman.

 

Well, yeah, but was the list designed as only for written journalism? Because, again, anyone who’s seen The Act of Killing or the OJ:Made In America series knows how good both are.

 

Per the piece itself:

The group considered nonfiction books, daily reporting, documentaries, podcasts and more.

 

The list seems hard to defend with that broad of categorizing.

(Although, to be fair, is The Act of Killing really “journalism?” I dunno. It’s something.)

 

Speaking of that list:

It's only a matter of time until one of the big three papers offers Brown an infinitely-resourced, permanent investigative reporter position that will set her up to _finally_ win a Pulitzer or two. There's no reason for her to stay at the Miami Herald, amid the paper's stellar economic decline.

 

Yeah, maybe. Depends on what she or anyone wants to do. You go with the big firms, you're usually working their cases.