The stupidest war ever

It's no secret older media like newspapers, radio and even television have harbored animosity towards this world wide of webs. The reasons are legion and lame, mostly relating to the generation gap. The fact is they are all ways to disseminate information, and the flexibility and speed of the web is scary to those who prefer to read a newspaper with their coffee in the morning.

The latest battle in this idiotic saga was the whole Bissinger-Leitch blowup (Note: The Internet!) that went down the other night on Bob Costas's HBO show. Costas's show is definite quality -- later on they had a frank discussion about race in sports that should be required watching.

But yeah -- the author most-known for penning 'Friday Night Nights' went off on Deadspin's editor about how blogs are basically the causing the downfall of human society. And now the web is rife with the fake edits of Bissinger's wikipedia page and whatnot -- "ZOMG old guy criticized the tubes, snark snerk!"

It should be noted that Bissinger has a point. The web can definitely function as a big echo chamber. Since so much of it is driven by opinion, people tend to seek out and keep with their own. And brave is the man who tries to have a rational discussion with someone of a different viewpoint, because trolls are rampant. Especially here.



The problem is not just the internets though. How the old media reacts to what becomes news on the web (memes and all) is less than ideal. For example recently TMZ.com published the name of an alleged 14-year-old sex crime victim. And then the AP wrote this story, which is just about the most passive-aggressive piece of journalism ever. Saving you the google search: The 'victim' in this case is the 14-year-old son of Billy Bob Thornton and he was supposedly fucking some 22-year-old. The natural reaction is more Niiiice than anything else. I doubt TMZ would have published the name of a girl, despicable as they are.

South Park aside, the problem is the gatekeepers of information have been replaced without their consent by rabble and are not fucking pleased. Fifty years ago, newspapers were Hermes, seeking adventure and distributing information. TV caused some injuries, but the internet is dealing the death blow right now. Those who thought they knew best see themselves being replaced by profane geeks who pander to the lowest common denominator.

The fight, just like the winner, is inevitable. Only those who can adapt will survive.