"They're here already! You're next!"

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on December 5th, 2007

Stephen A. Smith is causing quite an uproar with his rambling response to the LADN’s Tom Hoffarth’s question of whether the newspaper biz is dying. Smith is the eternally cranky ESPN TV and radio personality. Here are the money quotes:

And when you look at the internet business, what’s dangerous about it is that people who are clearly unqualified get to disseminate their piece to the masses. I respect the journalism industry, and the fact of the matter is …someone with no training should not be allowed to have any kind of format whatsoever to disseminate to the masses to the level which they can. They are not trained. Not experts. More important are the level of ethics and integrity that comes along with the quote-unqoute profession hasn’t been firmly established and entrenched in the minds of those who’ve been given that license.

Therefore, there’s a total disregard, a level of wrecklessness (sic) that ends up being a domino effect. And the people who suffer are the common viewers out there and, more importantly, those in the industry who haven’t been fortunate to get a radio or television deal and only rely on the written word. And now they’ve been sabotaged. Not because of me. Or like me. But because of the industry or the world has allowed the average joe to resemble a professional without any credentials whatsoever.

(Would it be small of us to point out that either Hoffarth or Smith (or both) spelled “recklessness” wrong? Oops! We just did!)

Anyway, the folks in the Antique Media are cracking at the seams. Every once in a while, they accidentally say out loud what they’re thinking. And we find out that they believe that:

1. Bloggers are “dangerous”

2. We really should be stopped

3. The folks in the print media are totally blameless for their predicament

and

4. Things should just go back to the way they were…

…if they could only figure out how…

Well, how about we make the internet environmentally hazardous?

The following is a quote from Trewin Restorick (we’re convinced that’s not his real name, but merely the letters of his real name scrambled to hide his identity). Note: ICT is the Brit equivalent of our IT, or Information Technology– the broad term that takes in computers used for communication, data storage, the internet, intranets, etc.

“ICT equipment currently accounts for 3-4 per cent of the world’s carbon emissions, and 10 per cent of the UK’s energy bill. The average server, for example, has roughly the same annual carbon footprint as an SUV doing 15 miles-per-gallon! With a carbon footprint now equal to the aviation industry, ICT, and how businesses utilise ICT, will increasingly come under the spotlight as governments seek to achieve carbon-cutting commitments.”

Trevor is the director of Global Action Plan and chair of the EILT. (EILT is the abbreviation for the Environmental IT Leadership Team. That’s right: You have an abbreviation inside of an abbreviation… this, no doubt, will result in a still smaller carbon footprint somewhere down the line.)

And the Global Action Plan insists that they’re merely here to “deliver tangible financial, environmental and social improvements” and that they will “make the small changes that have a big impact on the things that matter.”

They’re coming after the computers now.

Is it just us, or does anyone else feel like Kevin McCarthy in the final scene from “Invasion of the Body Snatchers?”

Are some IT outfits wasting energy? We’re certain that some are. But the extravagant language used by the GAP (and similar outfits) is calculated to intimidate and to stampede. (To put it another way, it might give some folks the wrong idea.)

So, to recap: Blogs, like SHECKYmagazine, are “dangerous.” And the computers they’re stored on are more harmful to the environment than gas-guzzling SUV’s or jumbo jets! We’re under assault on multiple fronts!

* * * * *

Every once in a while, we like to point out how the mainstream media misrepresents comedians. We take them to task for inaccuracies or imprecise language or the outright vilification of standup comics and the art of standup comedy. We do so with care and, most of the time, in a reasoned manner. And in some cases, we compete with the MSM when it comes to providing our readers with standup-related news or analysis or reporting. And we believe that we’ve always done so with attention to detail, accuracy and ethics. To suggest that we (or bloggers in general) are dangerous is lunacy.

As for the GAP, we’re keeping an eye on them. We won’t be blindsided!

Perception is strong and sight weak. In strategy it is important to see distant things as if they were close and to take a distanced view of close things.

–Miyamoto Musashi

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