Sacco, the Sweet Spot and Superannuation

Honestly subjective: When he started at Minnesota Monitor, Eric Black told me he was seeking the “sweet spot” between journalism and blogging, the best combination of “the reporting and verification discipline of the old with the energy, immediacy, honesty and candor of the new.” It’s a conversation we keep having around here, and another voice offers some perspective. Joe Sacco, the acclaimed journalist/comics artist discussed objectivity in a Minnesota Public Radio interview prior to last night’s talk at the Walker Art Center.

“I don’t think of myself as an objective reporter,” he told MPR’s Euan Kerr, referencing his latest book, Palestine. “I’m not saying, “Well, I saw this, but the Israeli spokesperson said that and then the member from Fatah said this.’ It’s not a complete picture but it’s a picture of the part that I saw. And I’m trying to be honest about the information I give the reader. But I’m not necessarily trying to wash out what I’ve seen with spokespeople telling me something completely different. I consider myself a subjective journalist who works honestly.“

Thanks, Flash: In a post about the Daily Mole and Minnpost, Flash at Centrisity gives props to Minnesota Monitor as “one of the first online political news magazine with a blogger feel to it” and “one of the premier sites in Minnesota, and one that set the standard for things to come.” We plan on living up to the praise, and look forward to some exciting news in the next few months.Suggested superannuation: “The nation’s supernumerary baby-boomers have reached what’s being gently called ‘the second half of life,’ but the big generation is still doing what it has done since its diaper days: It’s demanding notice and altering the contours of every phase of life it touches.” So reads the first line of a Nov. 12 Star Tribune editorial. The Rake’s publisher Tom Bartel takes issue with that: “‘Supernumerary’ means superfluous, not numerous.” He adds, “Of course, maybe the editorial writer is superannuated, which means ‘too old to work.’”

Sign of the Times: The Wall Street Journal under Rupert Murdoch will make the move the New York Times made two months ago — dropping its fees for online content. Murdoch says he thinks the move will attract a “large number” of big advertisers.

More on MinnPost: Might be too soon to tell, but after just five days into MinnPost’s public life, Editor & Publisher wrote a piece on Nov. 11 declaring, “Online ‘MinnPost’ Challenges Local News Outlet.” More ink: PRWeek, e-strategy’s Internet Marketing Blog (with a comment by MinnPost’s Joel Kramer), the Chicago Tribune’s Hypertext blog.

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