Look, the Internet did not makeSam Zell pay for theTribune Co. with$8.2 billion in loans. The Internet did not make theNew York Times spend$1.1 billion to buy theBoston Globe, then put$600 million into anew headquarters building on some of the most expensive real estate in the United States. The Internet did not make theWashington Post Co.waste a few years of effort on a nightmarishly-bad dial-up online service called Digital Ink.
If there was no Internet these people would still be fuckups. The only way they wouldn’t be fuckups is if there was no oxygen.
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exactly.
Been really appreciating your string of posts on the cluelessness of newspaper management. And what I get is that you’re not simply sniping, you actually care that newspapers have a place in the future and continue their vital role in a vibrant democracy.
So, thanks.
bb, I do care. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t mind that they’re bagging on the Internet all day long. They’re not solving the problem. That’s what upsets me. If I thought that hacking away on bloggers would help them, I’d gladly volunteer to take one for the team and let Kurt Andersen call me a remora or whatever the fuck it was that tool said.
Clearly, though, it’s not helping them. Clearly, as well, they need help.
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