It's always fascinating when old media attacks new media, and today's example takes on yours truly, LAist.
In a piece about Best Of lists on websites, the New York Times leads with this oddity: "As any media consumer knows, this is the season of the list."
First of all, in this, the era of YouTube and TiVo and 54 million blogs, is there really such a thing as a "media consumer"? Isn't everyone a media consumer at this point? Secondly, shouldn't it be "'tis the season for lists?" Maybe we're being defensive. Moving on...
In the next paragraph, the Paper of Record takes a shot at the largest group of folks who link to the NYT daily: blogs.
In the blogosphere, the top 10 moments of 2006 tend to involve navel gazing. Kyle Bunch of Blogebrity.com offered his list of the “Top 10 Blogebrities of 2006” to Laist.com. They included Jason Calacanis, the founder of Weblogs, and Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg.com. At No. 1: Ze Frank, whose daily videos take on subjects ranging from trade sanctions on North Korea to which fresh fruits are best for wearing on your fingers.So the editor of Blogebrity writing about one guy who made millions selling his blog company, and another who could make hundreds of millions selling his blog company is navel-gazing? When Yankee beat writers submit year-end stories about the Bronx Bombers, is that navel-gazing too? We in the blogosphere consider it, you know, writing about what you know. Something the NYT should think about doing.
For example, how can you write a piece about Best Of lists on the Internet and not mention the exhaustive and ridiculously wonderful Fimoculous' list of Best Of Lists? As of this morning it contains 575 lists from all over the web, including several -- from, omg -- The New York Times.
After the jump we will present to you our Top 10 20 24 Best New York Times Best Of Stories of 2006.
Fucker :)
(And no, we won't call you lazy for not knowing about the best-known best-of list-of-lists, we'll just call you 20th century, out of your element, and quaint.)
24. Year in Art - Roberta Smith
23. Year in Review - Television (Alessandra Stanley)
22. Year in Review - Art (Holland Cotter)
21. Year in Television (Virginia Heffernan)
20. Year in Art (Michael Kimmelman)
19. 100 Notable Books of 2006
18. Network News Anchors of 2006
17. Classical Standouts in a Mozartean Year (Some Even by Mozart)
16. Top 10 Best in Pop Music (Jon Pareles)
15. The Year in Opera and Classical Music
14. Top 10 Best in Pop Music
13. Top 10 Best Music in Jazz and Pop (Ben Ratliff)
12. Top 10 Best Music in Jazz and Pop
11. Year in Review: Video Games
10. Top 10 Best Books of 2006
9. Best Movies of 2006 (Manohla Dargis)
8. Best Movies of 2006 (Stephen Holden)
7. New York Times Magazine's Best Ideas of 2006
6. Top Ten Best in Pop Music (Sia Michel)
5. Buzzwords of 2006
4. Top 10 in Theater (Charles Isherwood)
3. Top Broadway Top 10
2. Best Movies of 2006 (A.O. Scott)
1. Top 25 Librarians (.PDF)
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I gotta agree with the NYT on this one. Whether it's New Media or Dead Tree Media, I generally skip any article that has some guy's opinion of the Top Ten Whatever. I've been a "media consumer" all year and I can make my own determination of the Top Ten...if I even thought that was necessary. I have an especially hard time stomaching those bloggers who repost -- in their entirety -- their favorite posts of 2006. If I wanted to look at your old posts, I'd just browse your archives. Talk about navel gazing...
Hi, I wrote the column. The "lazy" bit wasn't meant as a jab at laist, but more of a (good-natured) jab at listmaking -- by media "old" and "new." And, it being followed by 600 words about lists, it was meant to be a bit ironic and self-ridiculing. Also, I was quoting there, and not necessarily agreeing with Dan Hunter. Part of the point was that some lists are good -- even navel-gazing ones.
There are hundreds and hundreds of examples that I found of bloggers who made lists about bloggers and blogging, the future of blogging, the strides made by blogs, bloggers and blogging, the ways in which blogging is changing the world, etc. -- but I had room for just one, so I chose the one I found to be the most entertaining. Sorry if that offended you.
As for the lists I left out, there were many thousands, maybe millions. It's hard to read the whole Web.
Oh, and "season of the list" was meant to echo "Season of the Witch," a song by Donovan -- an "old media" figure, I suppose, but more "dead fossil and salt" (vinyl) than "dead tree."
Dan
Hey, you know what's even lazier? Googling a bunch of Top 10 lists and writing an article that simply reiterates what they contain.
Know what's even lazier than that? Luring readers into what they think is a critical analysis with the word "Lazy" then giving them just a tease.
Ha.
Tony, I don't think it's a matter of the New York Times being "old media...20th century, out of your element, and quaint." Lazy writing is lazy writing. Just because a blog is new media doesn't make the content better. And a Top Ten List is the oldest and hoariest of lazy story assignments.
Those 54 million blogs aren't media "consumers" any more. They're producers. Big difference.
Since mediating isn't outlawed, lots of outlaws have media. Welcome to the New West, city slickers.
It's High Noon here, 365/24/7.
Happy New World,
Doc
Lazy? No. Christianist jackass? Absolutely.
now now Alex, lets try to stay on-topic
I embrace the word lazy. I was too lazy to write my own top ten list and found Danny Mitchell's article which led me to Blogebrity.com and then this wonderful post. The Fimoculous' list of Best Of Lists is the BEST list. Thanks!
http://svmomblog.typepad.com/silicon_valley_moms_blog/2006/12/lazy_top_ten_li.html