Soft News, Casual Slander, and The Tyranny of the One Newspaper Town
I’m still shocked that our local newspaper would cover a contentious mass demolition by calling one of the neighborhood leaders a gadfly. That is what John Pope did in his article Xavier planning for 21 demolitions.
Karen Gadbois is a woman who lead her neighborhood when the tornado that struck Carrollton in February, who has been documenting demolitions throughout our city though an innovative application of social media the Squandered Heritage website, and who has been working to make the city enforce existing ordinances about notification of demolitions.
It helps me understand, however, why people are so cautious. It fits nicely into my new understanding of why people disdain the web as a means of communication about New Orleans and the issues of our recovery. You expose yourself to quick and easy slander.
When you self-publish, you can so easily be called a gadfly. You can be dismissed, despite the fact of the facts that you’ve put forward. Your speech is only meaningful if the Times-Picayune chooses to publish it for you.
The Times-Picayune must look no further than their own NOLA.com forums for their understanding of the Internet. They do not moderate their forums, or engage their commentators. They simply allow anyone to post anything.
They must assume that all digital discourse is an puerile as the discourse they host. They can feel confident to snipe at social media voices as annoying gadflies.
Today we start the day with a return to nothing in the news. No follow up on Eddie Jordan, no details on the Jordan shuffle, no report that our Mayor in Kansas City raising money for a political campaign, just a story about what sort of car the Mayor of Covington drives.
The absence of leadership is aided and abetted by the absence of serious professional journalism from a local newspaper that attacks us when we dare to speak for ourselves.
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I don’t think “gadfly” is a perjorative term at all. Socrates, after all described himself as a gadfly, or at least so we’re told by Plato. In my understanding, the term is usually used to describe a person operating outside established power structures who points out wrongs and injsutices and generally makes things difficult for anyone and everyone who would misuse the public trust. One wo “speaks truth to power,” in other words, and pretty fair characterization of Karen.
I don’t know John Pope very well, but I’ve always felt that he was more than sympathetic to underdog causes in general, and to historical/architectural preservation in particular, although he does conform to the journalistic imperative to be (or at least to seem) “objective.”
There was no slander here. Describing an activist as a gadfly is NOT “slander”; as the term has traditionally been understood, it is at worst merely descriptive and may actually constitute high praise. Pestering the high-and-mighty to distration is often the best we can do, and those who do so consistently and tirelessly should be rightly proud when described as such.
Why Thanks Tom..I did not take any offense, but now I think I should brag about my Gadfly Status.
I agree with Tom. To be called a “gadfly” is high praise indeed.
He’s right Karen. Gadfly status carries bragging rights. Now,how do we get rid of Eddie “set ‘em loose” Jordan?
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