Posted 1:21 PM by Gene

"A Collection of Journalists Who Have Distinctive Signatures."
That's What John Harris Has in Mind.

How many news hacks have "distinctive signatures"? Mr. Harris argues that "the system" irons them out. We argue that most hacks have no style to begin with. Oh yes, there's the occasional genius who can come from nowhere -- Ernie Pyle is said to have been a bland, uninteresting feature typist before he found his voice in the war -- but most writers are sterile soil from which no flower will grow. And the "professionalizing" of the biz, the incessant demand that the public treat it as a respectable occupation just like law or medicine (!), drove the eccentrics away. So we're stuck with the flat, neutral voice of flat writers in flat newspapers that are flatlining.

He also mentions humor. Puh-LEASE! The biz' idea of humor is Michael Kinsley (heavy irony), or MODO (weirdness), or the humorous columnist of the past who was just plain UNFUNNY. Besides, the news biz' best humor has always been unintentional.

So we have "partnerships", and "new paradigms", and news hacks who are too contented with themselves to change, and a readership that takes the sole available course and turns them off.

By the way, am I the only one who notices that "PressThink" suggests "GroupThink"?