Matt Welch Debates Alex S. Jones on Bloggingheads.tv About the Present and Future of News

Watch Reason Editor in Chief Matt Welch talk with longtime newsman Alex S. Jones about his new book, Losing the News: The Future of the News That Feeds Democracy. Whole thing, which clocks in at just under an hour, here.

Comments

[sage]

Is that his head or is his neck blowing a bubble?

[James]

Ok, I've only looked at the screenshot...

That guy only has a phone. Matt has a headset.

Matt wins. And I'm going to go ahead and stereotype the other guy as a senior citizen who hates all this new technology and myface.com.

[sage]

Your comment does not appear to be written in an English script. Please comment in English.

Well, that's a new one. English is about all I know. Trying again:

GET OFF MY LAWN!

[Pro Libertate]

I've gotten that error, sage. It must be an anti-spam measure, but I think it's set too high. What if I want to reel off some German or Latin insult? Will I get the message for including too many special characters?

[Warty]

Matt sure does have a Backpfeifengesicht, doesn't he?

[Pro Libertate]

Hmmm, maybe he does. You should ask him if he frequently gets slugged by strangers.

[Tim Cavanaugh]

Tu sceleratus sine ilia pondera es.

[Bergholt Stuttley Johnson]

Vous ?tes un morceau de merde!

[Bergholt Stuttley Johnson]

Ok, foreign language insults work unless actually in another script.

[Pro Libertate]

I triggered the error with ten ?s.

[Abdul]

Lonewacko must be so proud that Reason's software blocks foreign spammers.

This is America. If you spam us with stupid comments, do it in American!

[Nipplemancer]

i was confused when i read the headline. i thought Matt was debating with that truther psycho from infowars.

[SugarFree]

If this software can handle recognition of foreign languages, can it auto-translate all of Lonewacko's posts into Spanish?

[Warty]

LocoSolo no se gusta!

[Eric S.]

I can help but hear Greedo when I read this.

[sage]

You can say that again.

[Eric S.]

I can help but hear Greedo when I read this.

[Nipplemancer]

i'd say that it would drive l-dub crazy, but he's already there.

[Xeones]

Sweet'n'Low, if that was possible, i think i might could even forgive the threaded comments.

[Warty]

Threaded comments would be fine if there were an option to hide all previously seen posts. As it is now, they fellate homeless men.

[Xeones]

Can't stand a little competition, huh, Warty?

[Warty]

That's what she said, Xeones. When she saw your penis, that is. Ha! ha! I say.

[On Behalf of Women Everywhere]

None of us want anything to do with either Warty or Xeones' penis.

[Bergholt Stuttley Johnson]

They share one between them then?

[Brandybuck]

There's definitely some sharing going on, that's for sure.

[Xeones]

On Behalf, my wife vehemently disagrees.

[Bergholt Stuttley Johnson]

Mrs. X likes Warty's schlong that much?

[Bergholt Stuttley Johnson]

Mrs. X likes Warty's schlong that much?

[Bergholt Stuttley Johnson]

That set up was so obvious I had to make the joke twice.

[Xeones]

They share one between them then?

Pshh. Warty wishes.

[Warty]

On Behalf sounds like a fat chick. Get over yourself, sweetheart.

[affenkopf]

I would watch this if it was Matt Welch debating conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, now that would be fun!

[Pro Libertate]

Adnotatiunculae bilicis delenda est.

[Xeones]

Mr. B.S. Johnson, you have degraded us all with your cheap japes.

[Bergholt Stuttley Johnson]

Mr Xeones, you have totally besmirched me today and slandered me in front of a jury of my own peers. I demand satisfaction.

[Warty]

On the contrary, Xeones, my dear old chum. He has enlivened our dour proceedings considerably!

[Tim Cavanaugh]

If this man discusses John Carroll repeatedly in his book without mentioning that John Carroll did more to doom the L.A. Times than any other living person, you can and should ignore the book.

[Seward]

ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam

[Pro Libertate]

Seward,

No, adnotatiunculae bilicis delenda est.

[Seward]

🙂

[Pro Libertate]

Of course, I say that while wondering how badly I'm saying what I'm trying to say in Latin.

[R C Dea]

I dunno, Pro L. Your accent seems OK to me.

[Pro Libertate]

Well, if it's correct or even "correct", and no centurion is going to make me paint the more precise version on the walls of Rome, then I'll append it to the end of all my speeches to the Senate.

Adnotatiunculae bilicis delenda est.

[Tim Cavanaugh]

What does it mean when a man who writes a whole book about the need to save objective and broadly sourced journalism says "as far as I'm concerned" more than 20 times in less than an hour?

I'm sorry, he seems like a nice person, but his plan is to double down on all the failed policies of the past: more specialization of reporters, more j-school degrees, more management willing to waste more money.

Newspaper reporters produce bad journalism because they're shielded from the economics of their business.

[Seward]

Tim,

I think a lot of this debate (the general debate about the future of the press) simply ignores what seems obvious to me: people get the news that they want to get. The problem apparently is that these older institutions aren't delivering that any more and I don't see anyway around that problem for them aside from them delivering the news that people want to see. I mean, the state could step in protect these institutions but it wouldn't make them relevant anymore.

Not being a journalist I could of course be totally wrong.

[Tiffany and Links]

Newspaper reporters produce bad journalism because they're shielded from the economics of their business.