Making Commnents

As much as I still embrace print, I still read newspapers and magazines online. The reason is solely for the comments some publications post. Many readers are not just intelligent, but more perceptive and insightful than some of the journalists and columnists who are well-paid to report and interpret the news. I've already blogged about Thomas Friedman and David Brooks' being disconnected from the way real people live, work and manage everyday logistics. Both men don't know how fortunate they are to be middle-aged and employed.

Last week I read the article about Anne Sinclaire, wife of Dominique Strauss-Khan, in the print version of New York Magazine. While my son was still sleeping, I decided to go online to read what readers had to say about her and about Vanessa Grigoriadis, whose writings I've enjoyed over the years.

Rewadermonthofmay pointed out that a simple google search on Kenneth Thompson was an NYU graduate in 1992, thus making him middle-aged, not a "young African-American lawyer" and that the reference to his race is irrelevant. Reader also believes that Grigoriadis most likely relied on sources for information she couldn't possibly have known first-hand.

Verti noted that the rental price of the property at 153 Franklin Street was reported at $50,000, but was actually advertised by Town Residential LLC for $13,995 in the May issue of New York Magazine.

Girocelot spotted a grammatical error. Perhaps it was just a typo, but didn't anyone proofread the article?

Jeffarsham pointed out that there was an error in the date the incident occurred and that French prime ministers are appointed, not elected.

What makes this all even more of a crying shame is that excellence in reporting and writing is the best -- and perhaps -- only way to fight what has been happening to print. Yes, we know. We're all moving away from print and onto tablets, but the ways of providing quality content hasn't changed. Reporters and columnists still need to get off their duffs, off their computers and interact face-to-face with real people and do their own legwork, no matter how many awards they've won for their work in the past.