Fear and Loathing in a Blog Society
The Infinite Echo
B. Thomas Cooper
Hunter S. Thompson has left the building.
The clown prince of gonzo journalism is dead. Long live Hunter S. Thompson.
And everything absurd he chose to embrace during his extraordinary life on this planet. When Thompson passed, an era passed with him. He will not soon be forgotten, nor easily replaced.
Thompson was to journalism, the equivalent of a flaming bag of dog excrement deposited on the threshold of political correctness. His methods were not pretty, but the results left an unforgettable impression.
His death was no different. Certainly no-one familiar with his well earned reputation should have been surprised by the conclusion. It was classic Hunter right up until the rolling of the credits. The fat lady never had a chance.
Enter the Blog generation.
It would be presumptuous to estimate the journalistic merits and thus the ultimate contribution of the current blog phenomenon, but rest assured, there will be no turning back. Gone are the days of typewriters and ribbons and carbon paper. Ditto went the ditto-maker. Even the once mighty teletype has fallen silent, gunned down by the new kid in town…high speed internet.
Information is a unique currency. It possesses an intrinsic value and is instantly redeemable. It can be transferred, stolen, manipulated, diluted, hoarded, and as the mainstream media has so succinctly illustrated in recent months, it can be devalued.
The independent nature of the blog assures the reader that the information obtained has not been contaminated or exploited by some corporate agenda. As a rule, each blogger has a unique voice, expressing positions without fear of editorial or political reprisal. True to the spirit of the late gonzo journalist himself, the result often isn't pretty or even professional, but like a message in bottle that has traveled half way across the ocean, the information contained within can turn a world of desperation into a world of hope.
On the other hand, perhaps the blog movement will prove to be yet another trend without legs, fading gently into the good night. Only time will tell, and so with this blog, my first in fact, I enter the fray. Indeed, my boots are laced and the garden hose has been up-armored accordingly. I am keenly aware that at any moment I may find myself at the threshold, fighting an un-winnable battle against a flaming bag of dog excrement.
What more can I say...
Bring it on!
The Infinite Echo 2006
B. Thomas Cooper
Hunter S. Thompson has left the building.
The clown prince of gonzo journalism is dead. Long live Hunter S. Thompson.
And everything absurd he chose to embrace during his extraordinary life on this planet. When Thompson passed, an era passed with him. He will not soon be forgotten, nor easily replaced.
Thompson was to journalism, the equivalent of a flaming bag of dog excrement deposited on the threshold of political correctness. His methods were not pretty, but the results left an unforgettable impression.
His death was no different. Certainly no-one familiar with his well earned reputation should have been surprised by the conclusion. It was classic Hunter right up until the rolling of the credits. The fat lady never had a chance.
Enter the Blog generation.
It would be presumptuous to estimate the journalistic merits and thus the ultimate contribution of the current blog phenomenon, but rest assured, there will be no turning back. Gone are the days of typewriters and ribbons and carbon paper. Ditto went the ditto-maker. Even the once mighty teletype has fallen silent, gunned down by the new kid in town…high speed internet.
Information is a unique currency. It possesses an intrinsic value and is instantly redeemable. It can be transferred, stolen, manipulated, diluted, hoarded, and as the mainstream media has so succinctly illustrated in recent months, it can be devalued.
The independent nature of the blog assures the reader that the information obtained has not been contaminated or exploited by some corporate agenda. As a rule, each blogger has a unique voice, expressing positions without fear of editorial or political reprisal. True to the spirit of the late gonzo journalist himself, the result often isn't pretty or even professional, but like a message in bottle that has traveled half way across the ocean, the information contained within can turn a world of desperation into a world of hope.
On the other hand, perhaps the blog movement will prove to be yet another trend without legs, fading gently into the good night. Only time will tell, and so with this blog, my first in fact, I enter the fray. Indeed, my boots are laced and the garden hose has been up-armored accordingly. I am keenly aware that at any moment I may find myself at the threshold, fighting an un-winnable battle against a flaming bag of dog excrement.
What more can I say...
Bring it on!
The Infinite Echo 2006
posted by B. Thomas Cooper | 4:18 PM
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