First name basis with The Times
Jeff Jarvis posts a wonderful email exchange with Bill Keller, editor of the New York Times, and ends up with, well, a sweet l’il ol’ love fest. Bill and Jeff are now addressing each other by their first names. How nice. The emails are worth reading, but Keller makes a couple of notes that are worth repeating:
While we probably have our differences on the role of the MSM (btw, I personally favor “elite media,” at least as it pertains to the NYT) I would like to make clear that I consider blogs relevant and important. I do not hold them in disdain, as you imply. I won’t risk embarrassing my favorite bloggers by identifying them (except to say that buzzmachine is bookmarked in my office and at home) but I find the best of them to be a source of provocative insights, first-hand witness, original analysis, rollicking argument and occasional revelation. As I’m sure you will agree, you can also find bloggers who are paranoid, propagandistic, unreliable, hate-filled, self-indulgent, self-important and humorless.
This is both honest and refreshing. Keller also notes that the friction between the elite and people’s media (Keller’s term) is probably a good thing. I agree. One doesn’t supplant the other. “Iron sharpens iron,” the Bible says. May it always be so.
