Day: September 12, 2002

Unloading on Salon.Com’s Scott Rosenberg

Salon.Com’s managing editor Scott Rosenberg made the mistake of castigating weblogger Damian Penny, who was the first to draw attention to Salon’s 9/11 feature that includes dozens of tasteless and crass thoughts about the terrorist attacks. In one letter, for example, an anonymous writer complains that he hates his dad and wishes he hadn’t survived the World Trade Center attack. Another letter simply says, “2001 was a great year for me; I hated the twin towers and I hated the Taliban and now they’re both gone!”

Rosenberg offers an extremely lame justification for running this feature on the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks, and the warbloggers are unloading on him in the comments section of his weblog.

Penny asked what Salon.Com could have been thinking running this, and Rosenberg responds that,

We were thinking precisely this: That an orthodoxy has coalesced around 9/11, and that one good role of journalism is to puncture orthodoxies. That the range of human response to 9/11 was a lot wider than that reflected in the media orgy of 9/11 retrospectives. And that it’s probably a lot healthier to air such responses than to pretend that they don’t exist.

The “one good role of journalism is to puncture orthodoxies” is a standard excuse used by journalists to justify bad decisions. I’m surprised that Rosenberg didn’t follow it up with the other standard excuse, that the American public has “a right to know” (you know, CBS had to show the Daniel Pearl videotape — the public had a right to know. Didn’t have anything to do with ratings, no sir).

Rosenberg then takes issue with Penny’s suggestion that it would be a good thing if Salon.Com went bankrupt.

But before you wish that Salon goes bankrupt, may I ask how you pay your bills, and how you’d feel if someone wished the same on the source of your livelihood? When did political disagreement turn into a license to wish that your opponents lose their jobs, or worse (cf. Ann Coulter’s comment, “My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times Building”)? Good night.

See, this is where it’s obvious that the whole “puncturing orthodoxies” line is nonsense. When Salon.Com publishes dozens of tasteless letters about 9/11, it’s simply doing its job. But when someone directs a mildly offensive statement at Salon, all bets are off the table. How dare this mere weblogger try to puncture Salon.Com’s orthodoxies. That’s just uncalled for.

9/11 Was a Gift?

I will never be able to understand how Dave Winer can write this sort of nonsense,

An event like 9-11 brings us to gather, and events that do that, no matter how much grief they create, are wonderful, rich, powerful, enlivening, and believe it or not, healing. It’s easier to see that one year later. We’ve been through so much, together, we were able to weep for the dead, close the wound, reunite, and move forward.

. . . In a way 9-11-01 was a gift. It gave us a shared memory, a real one, a heart-reaching one. Yesterday we did normal stuff. But we also paused to reflect and share, to think, to remember.

It was a terrorist attack, Dave, not some sort of goddamned New Age therapy session.

Defending Falwell

And in time for the 9/11 anniversary, TownHall.Com features Ben Shapiro’s idiotic column defending Jerry Falwell’s comments about how 9/11 was the fault of homosexuals, abortion supporters and secular humanists. Shapiro writes,

Jerry Falwell said after Sept. 11 that abortionists, feminists, the gays and lesbians who promote homosexuality as a natural lifestyle, the American Civil Liberties Union and all those who try to secularize America (in short, the PC crowd) bear some responsibility for Sept. 11.

. . .

In the cosmic sense, Falwell was correct. We have tossed God from the public schools. We have ignored his morality in favor of subjective man-made values. We cannot expect God to maintain his protection of us if we exile him.

How long before Salon.Com scoops this guy up?

Where Would We Be Without Salon.Com?

Ah yes, the best way to remember and honor the victims of the 9/11 attacks. Speeches? Memorial Services? Candle light vigils?

Nah, those are too traditional for a cutting edge New Media outfit like Salon.Com. Instead, why not run letters from readers with tasteless comments about the disaster. A sample,

My husband and I were playing Jenga afterward. When the Jenga collapsed, I shouted “North Tower.” Then the second round of the game, we shouted, “South Tower.” Now we don’t call it Jenga anymore. We call it North Tower.

On the one hand, Salon.Com’s inevitable bankruptcy can’t come soon enough. On the other hand, I understand better why Eric Alterman fawns over this rag so much.