Earth to Linda: Our spoken opinions are never private

Posted by: Stephen Baker on August 13, 2007

Lots of criticism (and here) of NY Times Linda Greenhouse’s refusal to participate in a panel if it was to be televised. Apparently, she “didn’t want to have to modulate my comments for a national audience.”

Clearly, Greenhouse has been thinking more about constitutional law than modern communication. Fact is, if one single person in that audience of academics blogs, podcasts, or even talks to someone else who does, she has a global audience for her words, Cspan or not. CNN’s Eason Jordan learned this lesson two years ago, when he spoke candidly to a small gathering in Davos, saw his words bounce around the blogs, and later paid for them with his job.

This is one of the frustrations of this transitional period of journalism. We’re torn between the new dictate of “acquiring a unique voice” and the old one of striving to be as close to impartial and objective as possible. At the same time, our words travel everywhere—at least if we say or write something provocative. Something’s got to give.

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