3,447 words
Paul Fussell
Wartime: Understanding and Behavior in the Second World War
New York: Oxford University Press, 1989
Most readers know Paul Fussell from his satiric Class: A Guide Through the American Status System, which, intended as a humorous study of American mores, has been accepted as a legitimate guideline to what H. L. Mencken called Boobis americanus. (more…)
3,871 words
According to legend, an independent, truthful, and unbiased press is a vital pillar of democracy. There’s a certain mystique about intrepid journalists facing the night and storm in their trench coats and fedoras, out to fight corruption and bring the powerful to heel, armed only with their pens and notepads. Their aim was nothing but the truth: “Just the facts, Ma’am.” (more…)
1,525 words
If Holden Caulfield did battle with the phonies, Howie Carr does it with hacks. Howie is a Boston journalist whose mischievous face is a combination of Jimmy Cagney and Mephistopheles, offering Irish bravado and tempting the reader, listener, or viewer — he’s done his act for all three — to see the facts and get angry. In Paper Boy, Howie’s memoir, there’s a lot to get angry about, but almost every page bristles with laugh-out-loud moments. (more…)
1,949 words
All the world’s a stage. — William Shakespeare, As You Like It
This is not journalism, it’s performance art. — FOX News contributor Kat Timpf on pre-approved questions at a Biden press conference
In the old days of print journalism, the importance of a story was not measured in retweets, trending, uploads, shares, likes, or views, but rather in “column inches.” This is self-explanatory, but is also indicative of the fact that journalistic coverage in the print era was a zero-sum game. That is, the more column inches are devoted to story A, the fewer there are available for story B. (more…)
3,242 words
Deborah Cohen
Last Call at the Hotel Imperial:
The Reporters who Took on a World at War
New York: Random House, 2022 (more…)
Recently-published private correspondence by Matt Hancock, who was the UK’s Secretary of State for Health and Social Care during the Covid lockdowns, reveals that he encouraged the government to “frighten” the public into submission to the measures, and that he found the requirement for travelers to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival “hilarious,” among other revelations.
Recently-published private correspondence by Matt Hancock, who was the UK’s Secretary of State for Health and Social Care during the Covid lockdowns, reveals that he encouraged the government to “frighten” the public into submission to the measures, and that he found the requirement for travelers to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival “hilarious,” among other revelations.
2,718 words
The story is not about me, and actually it isn’t about Matt Hancock as an individual. The story is about collateral damage. — Isabel Oakeshott, English journalist
Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies. — Fleetwood Mac
If there is one lesson to be learned from the recent Covid pandemic, it is that British public opinion is as dirigible as a child’s party balloon on a string. Just as when someone in a crowd looks fixedly up to the sky, followed by the chap next to him, repeated by the family next to him, until finally everyone is looking up at nothing, classic crowd psychology also applies to information. Divert the attention of a few, and you will get everyone’s attention, like aquarium fish following the alpha. (more…)
Brett, aka Brianna (last name unknown)
Brett, aka Brianna (last name unknown)
1,531 words
Last Saturday afternoon at a public park east of Manchester in northern England, a 16-year-old male whose first name at birth was “Brett” died from multiple stab wounds. I don’t know Brett’s legal surname at the moment, because the press has refrained from reporting it.
At some point — from what I am able to infer from news reports, it was less than a year ago — Brett decided that his name was “Brianna” and declared that he was a female rather than a male. (more…)
Former Downing Street Press Secretary Alastair Campbell, who still imagines that people like him control what the masses think.
Former Downing Street Press Secretary Alastair Campbell, who still imagines that people like him control what the masses think.
3,070 words
The late comedian Bill Hicks had a skit in which he described the average Joe turning on the TV for the news and getting: Death! Famine! War! Disease! Aaaaargh! The guy turns off the TV and looks out of his back window to hear quiet, apart from the gentle drone of crickets. He thinks, “Where the hell is all this going down?” Another comedic Bill, Bill Burr, updated this observation recently on YouTube political channel Triggernometry. On Twitter, he said, everyone is screaming at one another. Then you go outside for a walk and everyone is smiling at each other. (more…)
5,490 words
Part 6 of 7 (Part 1 here, Part 5 here, Part 7 here)
6. Gonzo: Paleocon, Neocon, or Just Con?
I had just begun to doubt some of my strongest convictions when I stumbled upon [Colin Wilson’s The Outsider]. But rather than being wrong, I think that I just don’t express my rightness correctly. — Hunter S. Thompson (more…)
Thompson when he was running for Sheriff of Pitkin County, Colorado in 1970.
Thompson when he was running for Sheriff of Pitkin County, Colorado in 1970.
3,735 words
Part 4 of 7 (Part 1 here, Part 3 here, Part 5 here)
4. Father of Fake News – or OT (Original Troll)? . . . The Myth of the Golfing Douchebag
I have discovered the secret of writing fiction, calling it impressionistic journalism, and selling it to people who want “something fresh.” — Hunter S. Thompson
Any man who still has a residue of honor will be very careful not to become a journalist. — Dr. Josef Goebbels (more…)
Hunter passed out drunk while covering an event as a journalist circa 1960.
Hunter passed out drunk while covering an event as a journalist circa 1960.
7,043 words
Part 3 of 7 (Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 4 here)
3. Gonzo: What Happened? — Decline and Fall of Gonzo
As Thompson charts Hemingway’s road from literary brilliance to failure and suicide, he maps out his own path for the future. (more…)
