NYT v WSJ
Here are the 889th through 893rd Mac v PC commercial parodies but give them a chance. They’re about the New York Times v the Wall Street Journal, made by a high-school girl (head of her conservative club, so you can guess which paper she is):
Tags: newspapers
September 21st, 2007 at 12:27 pm
Er, your point?
That high school girls can make boring videos with bad audio just like the big newspapers?
September 21st, 2007 at 12:31 pm
[...] Jump to Comments While clicking through my Google Reader this morning, I came across a Jeff Jarvis post about the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal. He posted the video below, which got to me thinking about what it means to have a voice in this [...]
September 21st, 2007 at 12:39 pm
Not as good as this one…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVwbhsqEyNI
September 21st, 2007 at 12:47 pm
The link is broken.
Should be: http://www.patdollard.com/author/righthandgirl
September 21st, 2007 at 3:23 pm
David, it’s not where she is right now that matter, it’s where she will be.
The ability and talent she displays now will continue to develop and mature. Give her five years, she’ll be in her early 20s and more capable than most producers ten years her senior. (Albeit with the same, horribly offensive political views.)
Welcome to the future.
Too bad I didn’t have YouTube in high school (a prehistoric five years ago). I don’t know how I managed to keep producing videos without the professional community continuously shooting down all my accomplishments.
September 21st, 2007 at 3:31 pm
David,
OK, let’s see the comic videos you make. No, let’s see the ones you made when you were 17 years old. Or let’s see any creataivity you’ve attempted; I see absolutely no Googletracks for someone under that name, other than this comment. Afraid to stand by your words? Or just haven’t ever made anything. Jeesh. Quite ungenerous and snarky of you. Being snarky to me is one thing, but to a kid who’s sticking her neck out trying to make something — and doing a pretty darned good job of it — is quite another. Tell me you’re not a high-school teacher.
September 21st, 2007 at 5:47 pm
I don’t particularly think that the video is very creative, even for a video made by girls in high school. It takes incredibly lazy Ann Coulteresque conservative caricatures and applies them to a commercial that has been cliched to death.
I found the video absolutely excruciating at some points to watch, mainly because it was badly scripted…the awkward fumbling silences were painful.
As a general assignment reporter for a newspaper I’ve profiled a broadcast journalism class at a local high school, and some of the pieces they produced were genuinely good. One piece in particular, about the congestion in lunch room lines, was well produced, clever and I actually laughed out loud several times while watching it.
As for the notion that anyone criticizing a high school girl should be considered “ungenerous,” let’s be real. The girl spends a significant portion of the video accusing a media organization of treason and as an atheist I found her innane interpretation of atheist arguments to be particularly lazy. The video was very confrontational, so her youth shouldn’t shroud her in protective innocence. From her website it seems that she’s trying to become involved in political discussion, so shouldn’t she face the reality of sharp rebuttals?
September 21st, 2007 at 6:15 pm
Simon,
Your own agenda is oozing through. If she’d made it from the opposite viewpoint, would you be more favorably disposed? Be honest, now.
Listen, people, this is the web and this is blogs: I link to something. I think it was interesting. You don’t. Find. But does th at warrant brickbats at a teen girl? Didn’t your moms teach you that if you don’t have something nice to say….
I think you’re being mean because of her opinions not her talent or work or imagination.
I think you’re showing that we liberals are humorless — a view for which there is, unfortunately, far too much justification.
IT’S A JOKE. Clearly, you don’t want to get it.
September 21st, 2007 at 6:53 pm
And what you’re also saying is that if I just point to this young woman’s work, I’m setting her up for ridicule by the critical wolves here. I don’t want that. So if you have something constructive to say, say it nicely. Otherwise, move on. And I will repeat the challenge to you, Simon: Let’s see your work at 17. Get it out of the vault. Show it in public before the entire world, including humorless, angry men like you. Let’s see how it feels.
Now I go and read your blog — where you invite people to interview you (why would they?) — and I have to warn you that as an editor, I’d take out a red pencil to lots of your writing. You’re a newspaper reporter? And not in high school? I hope they don’t let you get away with sloppy writing like this:
- “It’s essentially a completely different company…” Wordy as hell.
- “Almost all of these daydreams consisted of me starting some kind of online media publication, of which I would be editor and publisher. I’ll keep most of my ideas to myself, just in case that scenario ever comes to fruition.” Wordy. Disagreeing plural and singular.
- “I’ll be a general assignment reporter for a newspaper with three times the circulation than the one I write for now. It’s also much better pay and benefits.” That’s “of” the one you write for now. And “it’s” means “it is also much better.” Don’t you mean, “It has,”or “It offers…”?
- “After nearly 27 years of using the Reuters news service, it appears that the 24 hour news network is dropping their service, a move that will cost Reuters an estimated $10 million a year.” 24-hour should be hyphenated, as they modify news network. And it should be “its service” rather than “their.” Disagreeing plural and singular again.
- “With the doom and gloom storm clouds gathering,…” Redundant. Storm clouds is sufficient; that alone calls to mind doom and gloom, no?
- “Boingboing, arguably the most popular blog out there, has done a major revamp on their site. They’ve re-added their comments section, redesigned the entire blog, and also added a gadget blog. I wonder if this will eventually increase their competition against huge gadget sites like Engadget and Gizmodo. In fact, their gadget blogger is a former Gizmodo editor.” Go to a style guide and look up usage of “arguably.” Also check stats to see whether it is, in fact, the most popular. Also look up “if” vs. “whether.” And “like” vs. “such as.” And “re’ as a prefix. And get a handle on your plurals and singlars (Boingboing has.. They’ve…).
OK, point made. How does it feel, Simon? Are you so old and experienced that you can dump on a high-school kid who’s trying to do what you did not so very long ago: create something?
Grow up, young man.
September 21st, 2007 at 7:04 pm
One more thing, Simon:
I’m grateful for the link you give to the grant I received from McCormick Tribune for my entrepreneurial journalism course. You say:
Simon, how do you think businesses start and how do you think they develop to the point at which they are sustainable? They are not profitable from the first day. They take investment. If you don’t have that money, then you might be lucky enough to get someone to believe in your idea and invest in it so it can develop and launch until such time as it has enough momentum and revenue to support itself. This is the essence of business and the essence of what my students are learning about starting new enterprise. Your puffy thinking on the topic wouldn’t get you very far in the course or get you an investment. You are now an employee of someone who invested in a business for which you now work. If you ever want to be independent and start that idea you have — which I hope you can and do — then you’d better understand the reality of business. Good ideas are a dime a dozen. It’s all about execution. It’s about sustaining journalism as a business. And that takes investment. If you think money is dirty, then you won’t get very far in creating new enterprises. I’d say getting an investment is an idealistic act. Why wouldn’t you?
September 21st, 2007 at 10:08 pm
The Jarvis-claws are out!
September 22nd, 2007 at 12:15 am
Jeff, point taken. I will say that as a journalist I do take criticisms from editors and make revisions daily. I have dealt with criticisms similar to ones you’ve made.
I disagree with your claim that my criticisms were based on viewpoints, and that if she’d made the same video but conformed to my own philosophy that i would have not been as harsh.
Honestly, I normally would have just rolled my eyes at this video and moved on. Most of my blog posts are made during lunch breaks or during my spare time, and as you pointed out, I don’t always take the time to write concisely. It was mainly your expressed distaste for someone criticisizing a person in high school who was making highly politicized statements. I’m 23 years old, making her only six or seven years younger than me. The gap between you and me is much wider. Does that make your criticism of my writing unfounded? Of course not.
September 22nd, 2007 at 12:18 am
p.s, I don’t invite people to interview me. I interview them.
See here for an example.
September 22nd, 2007 at 10:32 am
Excruciatingly bad. There are 5 year olds on Youtube making better videos than this, seriously. Also, why are conservatives so horrible at humor? God knows liberals provide a neverending supply of source material, yet the cons whiff at slow pitches served up underhand.
September 22nd, 2007 at 11:44 am
The criticism she receives here is mild compared to what they say about her on liveleak. The personal attacks there are really bad. I’m sure she’s used to it by now.
October 1st, 2007 at 5:15 am
[...] NYT v WSJ [...]
October 1st, 2007 at 6:04 am
[...] NYT v WSJ [...]
October 13th, 2007 at 10:46 am
[...] NYT vs. WSJ (a la Mac vs. PC ads) I laugh so hard on this line, “Isn’t that a little treasonous?” The film made by Pat Dollar (a girl still in high-school) was just funny and great. The two girls did a wonderful job acting the parts. [via Jeff Jarvis] [...]