Baltimore’s favorite angry writer and producer of the best show ever fucking made is testifying today in front of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation regarding the Future of Journalism. The list of speakers is fairly high-powered, including the VP of search products and user experience at Google (Marissa Mayer), Steve Coll formerly of the Washington Post, and Arianna Huffington (to whom I will not link). You can watch the whole thing go down here – or if you only care about what Mr. Simon has had to say, read his speech. It’s a fairly good read, and despite the fact that Mr. Simon hasn’t been in a news room in quite some time you cannot deny the fact that he’s passionate about the issue and is quite knowledgeable regarding the material (despite what dissenters of The Wire season 5 might say). It’s classic Simon, full of huff and puff and many excellent points. Here are some of my favorites:
On the other speakers making claims as to what is causing the death of the newspaper:
In my city, there is a technical term we often administer when claims are plainly contradicted by facts on the ground. We note that the claimant is, for lack of a better term, full of it. Though in Baltimore, of course, we are explicit with our nouns.
On the cheapening of local coverage and its possible impact on Baltimore:
In a city in which half the adult black males are without consistent work, the poverty and social services beat was abandoned. In a town where the unions were imploding and the working class evicerated, where the bankruptcy of a huge steel manufacturer meant thousands were losing medical benefits and pensions, there was no longer a labor reporter. And though it is one of the most violent cities in America, the Baltimore courthouse went uncovered for more than a year and the declining quality of criminal casework in the state’s attorney’s office went largely ignored.
And probably the most important statement in my opinion, on public funding for newspapers:
[…] there can be no serious consideration of public funding for newspapers. High-end journalism can and should bite any hand that tries to feed it, and it should bite a government hand most viciously. Moreover, it is the right of every American to despise his local newspaper – for being too liberal or too conservative, for covering X and not covering Y, for spelling your name wrong when you do something notable and spelling it right when you are seen as dishonorable. And it is the birthright of every healthy newspaper to hold itself indifferent to such constant disdain and be nonetheless read by all. Because in the end, despite all flaws, there is no better model for a comprehensive and independent review of society than a modern newspaper. As love-hate relationships go, this is a pretty intricate one. An exchange of public money would pull both sides from their comfort zone and prove unacceptable to all.
I’ve been reading the other testimonies and will more than likely give some sort of opinion, rather than merely regurgitating this information at the public (like a good blogger usually does, right Mr. Simon?), in a future post this week.