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From the New York Times' feature on Wonkette:
In a relatively short time, she has drawn her share of detractors... Jack Shafer of Slate called Ms. Cox a "heaving puke" in a column that also lambasted Gawker.com, the New York-based gossip blog created in 2002 by Nick Denton, the publisher behind Wonkette.
Well, yes, he did headline the article "The Heaving Pukes Who Write Gawker and Wonkette."
But he subheaded it "Nothing like an abusive headline to grab your interest, eh?", and "lambasted" Wonkette and Nick Denton with such statements as:
"Several times a day—oh hell, a dozen times a day—I click my way to Gawker and Wonkette for a couple of minutes of reading that usually elicit more guilt than pleasure"
"Any assessment of the [Gawker and Wonkette] should first commend the entrepreneur behind them, publisher Nick Denton, for bringing commerce and innovation to the blogosphere."
"...you'd have to salute Gawker, edited by Choire Sicha, and Wonkette for their abundant wit, for the remarkable job they do in aggregating the important and the trivial, and for the way they help me keep up with what my media friends are doing"
To be sure, Shafer has words of criticism for Wonkette, but his overall tone is that of this-is-good-stuff-that-could-be-better. But judge for yourself, and as they say, read the whole thing.
This is a minor item at best, but it seems that either Times' reporter Julie Bosman didn't read Shafer's article closely past the headline (if at all), or deliberately skewed his take to provide the but-some-people-don't-like-the-newcomer paragraph she needed to plug into her story. (And as we know, if Bosman had actually put a little effort into it, finding people who genuinely are peeved at the popularity of Wonkette isn't all that hard).
Just another tiny bit of perspective to consider the next time you're trying to decide whether the Times is feeding you "all the news that's fit to print", or just all the news that fits their predefined storyline...
P.S. - I more or less agree with much of Shafer's criticism of Wonkette (and his praise); it is a regular stop for me but often leaves me wishing for something more. Wonkettte is good, but not so good as to deserve all the attention it has managed to garner in such a short timeframe. (But having been the receipient of similarly overrated attention myself way-back-when, I shouldn't cast stones much).
Oh, and Wonkette still hasn't linked to me. Bitch.
P.P.S. - How clueless do you have to be as a journalist to mischaracterize the writing of another journalist whose gig happens to be as a press critic? Hello!
Hat Tip: The InstaGuy
Update: More thoughts at The Smoking Room and Dust in the Light.
