Why Gorman May not Respond

Found this Boing Boing piece ( Why responding to your critics always makes you look like an asshole) on Laughing Librarian.  While ALA President-elect Michael Gorman is no Rob Schneider (heh heh), perhaps he has put his spade down and walked way.  I'm following suit after my hot-headed response in which I used the word crap not once, but twice, in a post to ALA Council, thus proving part of Gorman's point about the lack of care in electronic communications.  Perhaps shit would have been a better choice.

Throughout all this, I've been very mindful of the recently-departed Hunter S. Thompson, who blasted through mainstream journalism, thumbing his nose all the way.  But, not many people were able to pull off gonzo.  Imagine all the earnest young journalists who've thought they could do gonzo, only to find themselves busted down to stringer, or discovering pink slips with their paychecks.   Not many people who blog do it well or succeed.  It does appear to be easier to get 15 minutes of fame as a blogger. Well, more like 15 seconds.  Gorman's piece has made me a bit more aware, or maybe more self-conscious about what I write.  That's probably not entirely a bad thing.

In my house, Mr. Raccoon, who is not a librarian, but watches our antics with great interest, and has been known to piss off large numbers of people with writings that rankle, thinks that Gorman's piece is a-ok. I understand his point, and if Gorman were not the President-Elect of a major professional organization, I'd not be as het up. I''ve read more concentrated bad-mouthing about libraries, librarians and the ALA the past two days, than I've ever seen, and that's not A-OK.   I'm trying to put a positive spin on it and think of it as a growing pain within the profession.  We're long overdue for a growth spurt.

Comments

[rochelle]

I am sorry that Lauging Librarian feels like that. ALACOUN 14109: re: "Blogs" was intended to be satirical, though I am certainly no fan of "The Weekly World News," having an old fashioned belief that, if one wishes to air one's views and be taken seriously, one should go through the publishing/editing process via authoritative publications such as "Ripley's Believe It or Not" or "Fate" magazine.

[Brian]

Rochelle, I read your ALACOUN message. I'm shocked that you'd trash talk the Weekly World News, which is the finest supermarket tabloid in the U.S. Although we certainly don't want Bat Boy to breed with Blog People.