The National Twinge of Longing, and Other Swimming Tips From a Drowning Man

Matt Welch | April 21, 2009

What happens when you mix the autoeroticism of MSM State of Play reviews with the blinkered and defiant self-regard of New Yorker film critic David Denby? Well, let's just say the phrase "twinge of longing" makes it to the opening sentence.

Elsewhere, La Denby puts his thinking cap on about how to solve the pressing national problem of Google "supplying free news content to Internet users without proper compensation to the providers (newspapers and magazines)":

Instead of paying individual news organizations a separate fee, why can't the consumer pay a single special monthly fee to his Internet service provider (much like a monthly cable fee now) that would then make possible instant free access to however many news organizations join a group devoted to this project?

After the Internet service provider took its cut, the revenues would then be split among the news organizations according to how many hits they get. [...]

For a scheme like this to work, Web sites, I suppose, would also have to stop freely linking to one another, a major shift in their philosophy. But is this shift worse than everyone drowning together for lack of income?

In related news, Mark Penn is now reporting in the Wall Street Journal that "we are a nation of over 20 million bloggers, with 1.7 million profiting from the work, and 452,000 of those using blogging as their primary source of income." Denby may be drowning (if by "drowning" you mean "continuing to earn more than probably 90 percent of Americans for writing crap movie reviews every other week"), but it seems some of his fellow wordsmithers are learning to grow gills.

Comments

|4.21.09 @ 9:52AM|#

Can any of these people still revere JFK's "Ask not" bit with a straight face?

|4.21.09 @ 10:03AM|#

I'd be surprised if 1/100th of that number earned their primary income from blogging.

dhex|4.21.09 @ 10:04AM|#

denby isn't a bad reviewer, especially when he's being mean. but he's no anthony lane. anthony lane and armond white from the nypress could power a spaceship on bitchiness alone.

|4.21.09 @ 10:05AM|#

Denby is really campaigning hard for that coveted "Media Douchebag Of The Year" award, isn't he?

Oh, I'm sorry... was that snarky of me?

Xeones|4.21.09 @ 10:08AM|#

Yo, fuck David Denby.

John C Jackson|4.21.09 @ 10:20AM|#

Websites "freely linking" is a major part of what makes the money, dumb fuck. That's just one of the ways we help each other keep from "drowning" on this here internet thingy.

The number of bloggers making money seems on the high side, but might depend on the definition of "primary" income. It probably doesn't necessarily mean a full-time "living." It could just be the majority of income for a lot of part-time self employed, house wives/husbands,etc. Also I know many people ( myself included) who are not "bloggers" but do make a living as self-employed marketers and use blogs as one stream of revenue and one of many tools. In addition to our own blogging, we often pay freelance writers to create content for our web properties. I know some regular guys who have built blog readerships in the tens of thousands and make a nice living, often with very few ads. Some even write better than these ignorant elitist journalists.

SpongePaul|4.21.09 @ 10:21AM|#

ha ha yeah lets pass this, then i will start a news service and bot hit myself to a billionaire, anyone else see any obvious flaws here, i mean besides the whole concept of course

High Every Body|4.21.09 @ 10:23AM|#

Instead of paying individual news organizations a separate fee, why can't the consumer pay a single special monthly fee to his Internet service provider (much like a monthly cable fee now) that would then make possible instant free access to however many news organizations join a group devoted to this project?

So, accuracy in wording is not one of his stronger qualities?

Instant access is fine, unfettered access maybe, but it IS NOT FREE when you are CHARGING A TOLL!

SpongePaul|4.21.09 @ 10:23AM|#

Its "Douche of the Universe" Sugar free, douche of the universe.

High Every Body|4.21.09 @ 10:24AM|#

SP,

ha ha yeah lets pass this, then i will start a news service and bot hit myself to a billionaire, anyone else see any obvious flaws here, i mean besides the whole concept of course

You mean like the reverse of getting people to click through ads of your competitors to drive their advertising fees through the roof?

Yes, I agree on what you noticed too.

High Every Body|4.21.09 @ 10:30AM|#

Did David Denby ghost write a review of Hackers thinking it was a documentry or something?

|4.21.09 @ 10:35AM|#

At least Denby didn't win a Pulitzer this year.

High Every Body|4.21.09 @ 10:38AM|#

At least Denby didn't win a Pulitzer this year.

Sounds more like Nobel material.

Steve Smith|4.21.09 @ 10:41AM|#

Mr. Welch, do you realize that you have just cited Mark Penn, the man who single-handedly caused the election of Hillary Clinton to the Presidency, as your supporting witness? Penn's evidence is weak, in any event; the "1.7 million" figure is culled from a BlogExpo flyer, whilst the "452,000" number seems to have been pulled out of his rectum, as the supporting link says nothing of the kind. You're starting to become like the Angel bullpen.

|4.21.09 @ 10:49AM|#

and Other Swimming Tips From a Drowning Man

Drowning in treacle, apparently.
Quick! somebody throw that man a cinderblock!

Matt Welch|4.21.09 @ 10:53AM|#

You're starting to become like the Angel bullpen.

That's just mean.

|4.21.09 @ 12:10PM|#

After the Internet service provider took its cut, the revenues would then be split among the news organizations according to how many hits they get.

Oh, I don't think you'd like the results of that, Denby. $23 a month is nothing to live on.

Kolohe|4.21.09 @ 2:55PM|#

452,000 of those using blogging as their primary source of income

In addition to what others said, I'm thinking this number may be inflated by a number of pr0n site operators that have converted to a 'blogging' format.

Or so I've heard.

Mike Laursen|4.21.09 @ 3:43PM|#

...the pressing national problem of Google "supplying free news content to Internet users without proper compensation to the providers (newspapers and magazines)"

WTF?! It's too complicated for him to understand that Google hyperlinks to the news sites, therefore helping them to get more readership. Again, WTF?!

LarryA|4.21.09 @ 5:11PM|#

Google "supplying free news content to Internet users without proper compensation to the providers (newspapers and magazines)":

Google supplies content? I thought it simply provided links so users could find content. The newspapers are free to charge for that content, if they can find anyone willing stupid enough to pay.

Instead of paying individual news organizations a separate fee, why can't the consumer pay a single special monthly fee to his Internet service provider (much like a monthly cable fee now)

Only way that'll happed is through government mandating the fee. Which I bet Denby would love.

The number of bloggers making money seems on the high side, but might depend on the definition of "primary" income.

And how it's made. If a company sets up a customer service blog and pays an employee to run it, the blogger is making a living even though the site actually generates no independent income.

it IS NOT FREE when you are CHARGING A TOLL!

Brought to you by the same mindset that would require volunteer service.