More journalist plaints

The Angry Journalist Web site is a constant source of entertainment. A link from there to a little piece by a disgruntled reporter is good for a grin. The writer remarks, among other things, on the running battle between papers and the readers who hate the paper.

… (The bad relationship between readers and newspapers) took a new turn once the abuse went public, thanks to newspapers’ decision to “embrace the Web” and allow readers to post comments on news articles. Stew-brained cranks found that not only were they not alone in despising their local paper — they were legion. Paper-hate went from a closed-door, angry-postcard affair to a daily public stoning.
(We’re getting our own back, though, by dropping page counts, cutting beloved features and shedding staff like dander. Soon you won’t have to cancel your subscription in protest, because we won’t be able to pay your paper carrier.)

There’s more than that, and it’s pretty funny and very familiar. Read the whole thing here. Poor papers. The open boards at the Vicad have brought out the damnedest collection of soreheads and nutballs in the Coastal Bend, including many who appear to do nothing more than sit at their computers and look for cyberfights. Another commenter on Angry Journalist takes some nice digs at the journalistic phenomenon called hyperlocalism, a policy that leads to stories about somebody’s grandkid on his skateboard, a story so hyperlocalized that only about seven people in the world live in the locale and give a damn about the story. That’s getting journalism down to the level of a family Christmas letter.