Monday, January 23, 2006

 

Correction - Rosen Didn't Call For Civility

Jay Rosen commented on my last post, pointing out that:
(1) I wrote that he called for "restraint and civility" from bloggers.
(2) That he actually wrote "I don't think "civility" gets Brady anywhere. And I'm not confident I know what he means when he says, "The issue here was civility." Absent enforcement by pro-active moderators, The Rules the Post declares in force will simply not be in force. This is not a new finding about the Internet."

I owe him an apology for saying that his piece, "in a nutshell is pretty nutless." I guess I was not only "heated" and "over the top," like some of the bloggers responding to the Post, but downright nasty. Imagine how I felt when he emailed me and nicely responded to my comments on HuffPo, even finding my blog only to discover that I called him nutless. I was trying, unsuccessfully, to play a quick, clever word game with "nutshell" and "nutless" but I was dead wrong.

I guess if Rosen's point is that Bloggers need to be smart, and not vulgar, to truly have lasting effect on the quality of the MSM and the corresponding level of understanding in the public, my stupid word choice makes his point pretty well. I can only hope that he, unlike the Post, will still be open to comments, in spite of my vulgar, stupid, uncalled-for word choices.

I guess the lesson is that if you want someone to listen to your perspective, and perhaps reform theirs and inform yours along the way, calling them names doesn't get you anywhere, no matter how clever and rebellious the word choices make you feel. Sorry, Mr. Rosen. Thanks for responding genuinely and eloquently to my comments. I apologize for not doing the same for you.

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