[Air-L] The Washington Post piece

[Joseph Turow]

It *is* mortifying to see the results of a (presumably) serious set of
interviews turned into what is fundamentally an anti-intellectual
article.   I have to say that every time I talk to a journalist I worry
that I won't end up sounding like a fool-even if the quote is correct.
The best people to talk to are beat reporters  who really know the
territory.  Monica Hesse, by contrast, is a "staff writer" who as a
result has written articles with titles  that range from "Identity
Stolen: Steel Yourself" to "Refrigerator Stuffed Too Full" and "...Can
Modern Love Survive a Tale of Two Chairs?"   

 

For what it's worth, I see articles such as the one about Facebook as a
callout about the importance of a topic and people related to it.  When
I worry about such pieces, I tell myself that my nonacademic friends
(and the PR folks at my University) will  be impressed that I was quoted
and mostly forget what was said;  that most of my academic friends will
know how this works and shrug off what sounds silly; and that only a
wayward few will parse each quote to understand its deep meaning.

 

 

Joe

Joseph Turow 
Robert Lewis Shayon Professor 
  and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies 
Annenberg School for Communication 
University of Pennsylvania 
3620 Walnut Street 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104 
215 898 5842