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The increasingly inaccurately-named blog of journalist and futurist Chris Taylor. Either the most sporadically brilliant amateur blog, the most brilliantly amateur sporadic blog, or the most amateur sporadic brilliance on the Web since 2001.
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Daily Blah FAQ
Who are you?
I'm the newly-appointed Future editor at Business 2.0 and the former San Francisco correspondent for Time Magazine.
Wow, so does this mean everything you write reflects Time Inc's opinion? Or do you perhaps have some sort of standard disclaimer to the effect that it doesn't?
Naturally, the opinions contained in this blog are not those of my employers. In fact, some opinions may be the polar opposite of my employers. Some may be the same, for all I know. Hey, it's not like I ask my employers their opinions about everything in the news, okay? Let's just say that if this were a Venn diagram with one circle marked "my opinions" and the other one marked "my employers' opinions", there would doubtless be some overlap. But neither I nor my employers are able to pinpoint exactly where that overlap is.
What is this Daily Blah thing?
An experiment for a column I wrote about blogging back in December 2001. All these years later, I haven't been able to kick the habit.
Do you write any other blogs, by chance? Could that have something to do with the fact that Daily Blah isn't always Daily?
Yes -- the Future Boy blog for Business 2.0. And yes. If you want true, editorially-mandated daily coverage from me, that's probably the best place to look.
Mister, you talk funny. Are you one of them furrners?
Why yes I am, as it happens. I was born, raised and educated in Great Britain. I've been living in the U.S. since 1996 and identify as British.
I say, old chap, you forgot the "u" in "colour."
No I didn't. I may identify as British, but I am also an American journalist writing for an American audience about mostly American issues. These two different sides of me are a constant source of tension. Nevertheless, Daily Blah will adhere to American English grammar and spelling.
Praise for Daily Blah:
"It is fun to watch the author's navel-gazing joy." - Sunday Times (UK)
"It's really funny and informative." - Dave Eggers, author
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"I like it, and I don't." - Fiona Hogg, Teacher
"Better than Xanax." - Lessley Andersen, journalist
"Dude, lay off the crack pipe." - Souris Hong-Porretta, gamesmith
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Daily Blah for... Thursday, June 10, 2004
Hacks vs. Hacks
So you don't like how the media has been treating Bush? Think we've been giving him too much of a free ride? Well, join the freakin' line, mister. (After you, madam.) So do journalists. That's the result of this Pew Research Center survey of those noble, hard-working creatures we in the American media like to call the American media. Oh, and before I get a comment -- possibly from the "you suck idiots" guy -- saying that this is no surprise given the fact we're all liberal wussies, consider this: 54% of national journalists and 61% of local journalists describe themselves as "moderates." As Time's own Joe Klein says, speaking for the majority, "when I write my autobiography, the title will be 'Flaming Moderate.'" It is the Republican Party that has swung viscously (and dare I say torturously) to the right; the rest of us are standing exactly where we always have been.
Okay, I hear you say, so you think there's a problem with the coverage. Why don't you do something about it? Aren't you responsible? Well, that's a question I've been asking myself for some time, stuck here in San Francisco, wondering what the heck is going on with the daily press back east (I know I'm biased, but I think the weekly magazine coverage is much better; we've got more time to think about how to be critical but still fair). Part of the problem is the Emperor's New Clothes atmosphere that descended on September 12, 2001 and is only just beginning to disperse. Part of the problem has been the polls combined with the business pressures from above described in the report: we can't say anything bad, the people won't listen, they love Bush! That factor too is beginning to disappear. But you know what I think most of it is? We play too fair. We're incredibly critical of our own opinions. We give too much "equal time" to radicals and fools. I was always taught to argue against my beliefs in my own work; the result would be a stronger piece of writing. I still believe in that. It's a concept that has never infected the radical right, of course. Luckily, we live in a world where you -- yeah, you -- can redress the balance. Think we're not critical enough? Think there are things left unsaid? Then go and start a blog yourself, and say so. The media: we're all about reducing barriers to entry.
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