The N.Y. Times Hack Proves My Point

Some mornings you get up and all of the planets align for you.

Case in point, my last blog where I called out the tabloid fish wrap known as The N.Y. Times for hiring hacks in place of real writers. Well, the writer in question has finally written another article which has been published. The headline of the article reads, “Judge Weighing Whether to Dismiss Defamation Case Against Clemens”. The first paragraph of the article then states, “A judge in Houston heard arguments Monday on the legality of the defamation case brought by Roger Clemens against his former trainer, Brian McNamee. At issue is whether McNamee was immune from such actions, and, if he was not, whether the case should be tried in Texas.” (here is the link to the article:  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/04/sports/baseball/04clemens.html)

Okay, clearly someone either doesn’t know how to write a headline or doesn’t understand who is suing whom in the case. Just for the record, the text of the article is correct Roger Clemens is the one doing the suing and not the one being sued as stated in the headline.

This illustrates a great point. Your local newspaper probably has a writing staff and editors who are every bit as good as The N.Y. Times. Now if you’re subscribing to The N.Y. Times because of some eastern elitist snob appeal then I say bully for you and onward. However, if you’re doing so because you think they have a crack writing team then think again. Chances are the writer was able to land a job with the Times because the writer was able to sleep with the daughter of the publisher while in college, or because the writer’s rich uncle was on the editorial board of The Times, or because the writer’s daddy owns one of the larger advertisers in the Times, or because… well, you get the idea. So if you’re a person who actually cares about things like journalistic integrity or who desires to read something written by a person with an i.q. over 130 then you should either stick with your local newspaper or with this blog.

Now, as I previously stated, if The New York Times will simply apologize to me for allowing their hack excuse of a writer to take away two hours of my life, then I will remove all mention of them from all blogs (past, present, and future). If they choose not to do so, then I will continue down this path while laughing at the fact that they are incapable of figuring out a 21st century business model that works. Hello gentlemen and gentle ladies, are you aware of what your advertising revenue is going to look like after the end of the election today?

Tags: Bad Business Models, Brian McNamee, Fish Wrap, Hack Excuses Of Writers, Hacks, Kate Murphy, Local Newspapers, Low I.Q., N.Y. Times, New York Times, Poor Writing, Roger Clemens, Shrinking Ad Revenue For Print Media, Tabloid, Tabloid Journalism