A Watered Down Argument

Over at the essential Blogabarbara I got into a bit of a comment tete-a-tete with good old Nelville Flynn, who has been rumored to be Arthur von (of Physiology) Wiesenberger. I hated for it to be buried in a 50 comment dump, so I thought I'd bring it up for some air on my blog, too, if Sara doesn't mind.

First, here's Flynn's initial comment that set me (and to be fair, others) off:

Nelville Flynn said...
Wendy McCaw's fight belongs to every publisher in America.

It is a fight for standards, for credibility, for unbiased reporting at a time the public holds journalists in low esteem. Newspaper circulation and television news viewership reflect this steady erosion of credibility.

It is a fight for the future. Unions, which stand for archaic work rules, have hobbled our nation's march forward. They stand in the way of progress and innovation on the media. Wendy McCaw's fight is for all publishers struggling to adapt in changing times.

Does it cost money? Absolutely. But this is battle Wendy McCaw can't afford not to fight.

Luckily others pointed out that perhaps those union-won archaic work rules--minor things like a 5 day work week and 8 hour work day and child labor laws--might be sort of ok. So instead I commented:

According to Nelville, "Wendy McCaw's fight belongs to every publisher in America."

So when will all the other publishers in the country come to her side (which is really just their side, after all)? Is she just that much more a visionary?

OK, when will one other publisher?

I guess the best thing about owning a newspaper is you can say "white is black" enough times that someone might actually believe you.

Eventually Nelville Flynn chimed back in and said...

Many publishers have privately expressed their support to Mrs. McCaw.

Unfortunately, they are reluctant to speak out publicly. Many remain in thrall to that aging and increasingly irrelevant Brahmin caste led by Lou Cannon -- the priests who stand on the mountaintops and proclaim "Ethics! Ethics! Ethics!" as the ground slips away beneath their feet. Cannon, Roberts and the American Journalism Review clique have led newspaper journalism to the brink of destruction. Wendy McCaw is seeking ways to win back the public trust, to expand the platform for her journalism. Well-heeled unions and self-interested politicians are standing in the way, and the effort has not been cheap. However, Wendy McCaw believes that a free press is priceless.

I then replied:

Wendy McCaw in the News-Press (7/3/07): "Today the hue and cry of 'journalistic ethics' by your journalist elite, rather than being the noble words you assert, instead have become little more than the chant of an ancient priesthood long discarded by their former flock, our readers. Newspaper owners now realize these elitists were simply trying to preserve their caste which provided them with the sinecure of full employment without responsibility."

Nelville Flynn on Blogabarbara (9/29/07): "Many remain in thrall to that aging and increasingly irrelevant Brahmin caste led by Lou Cannon -- the priests who stand on the mountaintops and proclaim 'Ethics! Ethics! Ethics!' as the ground slips away beneath their feet."

So, Nelville--parrot, plagiarist, or Wendy herself?

You aptly say, "Wendy McCaw is seeking ways to win back the public trust, to expand the platform for her journalism." Her journalism? She might own the paper, but I didn't know her money entitled her to own journalism as well.