Read on Twitter
I asked this question in response to an tweet from @mtracey promoting an article called "How US Journalism Lost Its Spine". In the tweet he uses the phrase "emotionally unstable" to characterize a whole category of journalists (young, progressive, on social media).
1/6 https://twitter.com/keithinmodesto/status/1273408370179862528
1/6 https://twitter.com/keithinmodesto/status/1273408370179862528
A few people have responded to my tweet asking how Tracey determined that all these journalists are "emotionally unstable", but none have answered my question. I've read the article (not too long; it's also by Michael Tracey) and it does not either.
2/6
2/6
The words "emotionally unstable" do not appear until the second to last paragraph and are not defined or supported, except perhaps by anecdotal and personal observations throughout the article. Which is not very strong evidence that this entire "cohort" of journalists ...
3/6
3/6
Which is not very strong evidence that this entire "cohort" is in fact "emotionally unstable". It looks to me just to be a characterization intended to smear younger journalists of a certain presumed outlook. You could say much the same for the entire article.
4/6
4/6
In the article Tracey speaks of a moral panics, internal revolts, self-censorship, mental breakdown, etc. Seems like a lot of overheated rhetoric. He also details a little of one journalist's education, perhaps to paint this whole "cohort" as elitist.
5/6
5/6
In short, this Tracey article looks like a sparsely supported (by just personal observation) opinion piece, posing as a defense of journalism, but is just another shot being fired in a culture war being fought mostly online.
Maybe I missed something. I'll reread it tonight.
6/6
Maybe I missed something. I'll reread it tonight.
6/6
Here is the article in question, BTW. It can be also be found linked to in the tweet from @mtracey to which I was responding in the link at the top of this thread. https://unherd.com/2020/06/how-us-journalism-lost-its-spine/
And this is the tweet from @mtracey to which I was responding in the linked tweet at the top of this thread. https://twitter.com/mtracey/status/1273404446861660160?s=21
