"To hell with the web, it’s got no responsibility"

In: internet|journalism

22 Sep 2008

I don’t understand why journalists of the calibre of Robert Fisk say things like this:

“To hell with the web, it’s got no responsibility.”

Fisk’s outburst came in at a public lecture at the Embassy Theatre in Wellington, New Zealand, as reported by Newswire. In his view, the internet had led to the erosion of quality writing and about being misquoted on the web.

In response, Dave Lee makes a strong argument about how the web could enable Fisk to address many of the ills in journalism he complains about.

Beyond that, to just dismiss the web outright is stupid.  It is not as if newspapers never misquoted someone or got things wrong.

Then again, maybe Robert Fisk, Middle East correspondent for The Independent, has been misquoted. After all, I did read his comments on the web.

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This blog is run by Professor Alfred Hermida, an award-winning online news pioneer, digital media scholar and journalism educator.

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