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Jones gives good blog?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Uncle.Ruckus, Mar 29, 2012.

Page 11 of 39
  1. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    'Groupthink?'

    Isn't it possible that a simple majority of people agree what the blogger Cook did was wrong?
     
    Azrael, Mar 31, 2012
    #121
  2. YGBFKM

    YGBFKM Guest

    I agree what he did was wrong. Even posted to that effect early on. But what does that have to do with the general similarities between the Jones threads and the political threads?
     
    YGBFKM, Mar 31, 2012
    #122
  3. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    I'm not sure what they share in common, or what you consider "groupthink"
     
    Azrael, Mar 31, 2012
    #123
  4. YGBFKM

    YGBFKM Guest

    That's OK.
     
    YGBFKM, Mar 31, 2012
    #124
  5. jlee

    jlee Well-Known Member

    Yes, we've agreed. Agreed some more. Not a lot of compelling counter-arguments, and no assertive ones except by people who registered just to make those specific points.

    Then Cook made another post about another person who agrees with us, and we agreed some more that he's a douche.

    Then Cook tweeted something about us agreeing, and we agreed some more.

    Now we're finding other people who agree with Cook about our agreeing, and we're agreeing that they're wrong too.

    There are many engaging conversations on this site, of all kinds of importance (the Arab Spring, Tebow, gold), but this one looks like ... well, Gawker comments. Once again, I was part of that line of thinking.
     
    jlee, Mar 31, 2012
    #125
  6. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    I credit Bill Clinton.

    Younger women are much more inhibited than I recall from my youth. Plus, they're now willing to have sex with me.

    Honestly, it does sound like an odd assignment for you. A young, good looking, single guy would have made more sense. Or, someone like freqposter who's played the field recently.

    Though, nothing about it makes what Gawker did acceptable.

    And, they clearly did it not just to get clicks, but in the hopes of stirring up controversy, and maybe even a "feud". They surely know you don't always take attacks lying down. I'm sure they're dissapointed you haven't blown a gasket over this.
     
    YankeeFan, Mar 31, 2012
    #126
  7. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    I've come to really enjoy these semi regular Jones threads. They are a great change of pace from the day to day SJ discussions. It's great drama. They remind me a bit of the sitcoms of the 60's and 70's where a former regular who has become a star on another show comes back home for a few episodes. For example Gomer Pyle coming home to Mayberry.

    They all seem to follow a similar arc. Someone will post a story or blog post from Jones or about Jones. His fans will pop on to pay homage. His detractors will toss out a few barbs and then trade some back and forth with fans as we all await the kings arrival to favor us with a few remarks.

    If the Jones story involves a dispute with another writer, we can look forward to new members joining to post on the thread either in support of Jones or to carry on the fight.

    When Jones does arrive on the thread, he will always thank his minions for their support and perhaps take a shot or two at his non believers. If said story is a controversial one, Jones will talk about the mental anguish and torture he has been through in the past 24 hours and again thank his fans for their support. He is an extremely gracious king.

    All in all, great drama / great fun and fine change of pace from the day to day same ole / same ole.
     
    Boom_70, Mar 31, 2012
    #127
  8. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    The whole "group think" charge is asinine in this case. I have seen that on here. Not on this thread.

    The thread didn't start as a referendum about Jones or what he wrote. That piece doesn't even get noticed by 99 out of 100 of us. Not without the Gawker link.

    The thread started because Gawker used Jones, and threw his wife in, to concoct a salacious post that anyone other than Nick Denton (or a similar bottom feeder) would find out of bounds. Even if you buy into the Denton school of scruples, that any piece of shit slapped onto a web page is good if it generates eyeballs, we're not talking about a major public figure in Chris Jones -- someone who should have an expectation of that kind of crap, and should expect to wake up on any given day and find something like that waiting for him. Aside from that, how does Jones' wife end up in the middle of it?

    Answer: Nick Denton and his muppet John Cook.

    It doesn't take much group think, or any particular love of Chris Jones, to see that thing (and lots of other things Gawker's sites have done) and conclude that they are bottom feeders who will post things that are untrue, and deliberately create salacious made-up innuendo to keep their act rolling. They recently did something to boost hits--an idea thought up by Daulerio--of assigning one writer each day to post ANYTHING he or she thought would generate the most hits. It didn't matter what piece of shit it was, whether it had any news worthiness, or whether it met any kind of standard. As long as it got Nick Denton clicks.

    That is the world John Cook has chosen to work in, even if he fancies himself something more than a shit-slinging roach. He can rationalize his job any way he wants, and short of actually finding any journalistic merit in what he does, he can gloat if he wants that he's "successful" because Gawker has a lowest common denominator, bottom-feeding audience that can keep it modestly profitable (and really it is making Nick Denton money. John Cook is just his lackey). But his success is predicated on being the equivalent of a 21st Century freak show act. He's the bearded lady, whether he wants to admit it or not. Except of course no one is paying to see his bearded lady act, so he walks around with a slime gun trying to drag others in to create enough of a spectacle so people notice.

    We don't even have to have a debate over whether Jones is a good writer, or whether he gets fawned over on here (and perhaps that is because he is one of us, and has been on here for years, and a lot of us know him, and he just happens to be a nice guy?).

    As an aside, the fact that we are talking about tens of thousands of hits for these Gawker posts doesn't even make what they do all that impressive. At the heart of the yellow journalism circulation wars between Hearst and Pulitzer in the late 1800s, they were selling millions of newspapers, to a potential buying public that is much smaller than Gawker's potential audience.

    I am sure I could start a white supremacist blog, for example, and come up with enough red meat daily to generate a bunch of hits. It wouldn't make what I do noble, and if I hired John Cook to do the dirty work, it wouldn't turn him into a literary genius.

    Who knows? Maybe I just gave Nick Denton his next big idea.
     
    The Big Ragu, Mar 31, 2012
    #128
  9. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    Sort of the very nature of a message board, though, is it not? Why post more than once on any thread about anything?

    Here are my thoughts on Clemente/Dragon Tattoo/Taibbi/Seacrest/Mad Men.

    And having thus posted my single thought - perhaps one in general agreement with those preceding it, i.e. "The Wire is the best show on TV" - should I not post again on that thread to refine, support, refute, shade or even disavow that thought or any other?
     
    Azrael, Mar 31, 2012
    #129
  10. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    That's a point in favor of no more individual threads. Just have one catch all running thread.
     
    Boom_70, Mar 31, 2012
    #130
  11. Double Down

    Double Down Well-Known Member

    Clever and pretty accurate summary, Boom. You just forgot the part where you blow your dog whistle four or five times, then get frustrated because none of your bannermen are answering your call to arms, and then someone who hasn't posted in months but oddly happens to share your IP address comes peeling into the discussion like he just rolled up in a Hummer, they join the fun, I put that person on blast, get a few attaboys from my crew, then someone asks me how Jones' balls taste and accuses me of name-dropping, and then Moddy locks the thread and says "You people really frighten me."
     
    Double Down, Mar 31, 2012
    #131
  12. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    Hey, I haven't accused you of licking Jones' balls or name dropping in a while!

    I did kind of think Boom's summary was pretty funny though.
     
    YankeeFan, Mar 31, 2012
    #132
    Songbird likes this.
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