Joel Stein: Still an Asshole
Or maybe he's just articulating what every other journalist wishes they could say, but don't because their editors think this "citizen journalism" thing is here to stay, and also insist that they respond to every inane reader email they get:
Don't email me.
That address on the bottom of this column? That is the pathetic, confused death knell of the once-proud newspaper industry, and I want nothing to do with it. Sending an e-mail to that address is about as useful as sending your study group report about Iraq to the president.
Here's what my Internet-fearing editors have failed to understand: I don't want to talk to you; I want to talk at you. A column is not my attempt to engage in a conversation with you. I have more than enough people to converse with. And I don't listen to them either. That sound on the phone, Mom, is me typing.
Nah, our original assessment's correct. Still an asshole.
