It makes for good copy, I suppose. Today it's Fran O'Sullivan's turn (again) to dish the punishment out.
I suppose it's easy to attack someone you work with when they're based on the other side of the world, and when there's no risk of your bumping into them in the office corridor.
Fran does not like Bryce for some reason. I suspect it is that he has a left wing analysis of current events which is critical of Key and National's ineptitude and to have this sacrilege printed in the Herald is more than Fran can bear ...
ReplyDeleteShe seems terrified of an alternative narrative. I suppose as a key cheerleader of the neo-liberal consensus she would regard even talking about alternatives as unutterable heresy.
ReplyDeleteI suspect there's also an element of professional patch-protection at work here. Fran is a "real journalist"(TM) who does "real journalist stuff"(TM), while Bryce is an alien interloper from the academy who purports to be able to do their job (or something like it) ... for next-to-nothing!
ReplyDeleteIt's the sort of tone us lawyers take when some layperson comes along and purports to say what is the law on some issue. Of course, that layperson may well be right in his or her analysis, but there's no way we're going to let them come in and trample on our turf - so we'll take every opportunity to rip them a new one.
Won't we, Scott ... ?
You may be right. It's funny, though, how much time many of these "real" journalists are spending reading blogs. If bloggers are so universally uninformed, then why are journos reading their work?
DeleteIt's common enough for a profession to resist the influence of outsiders who threaten their businesses. The legal profession has done this too. My own view is that if other people want to be able to do the work traditionally reserved to lawyers, they should also be subjected to the same regulation and legislation that we are. Once they have a read through the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act and all the Client Care Rules I suspect they won't be so keen!
I'm always intrigued how outraged journalists get when they are subject to the same standards - in reporting or opinion - the media applies to everyone else.
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