Thursday, November 29, 2007

New ink-stained icon

This is my new hero.

There are so few in reporting these days. From this interview, Matt Taibbi has the perfect mix of irreverence for journalism.

Money quote:

"If you have no real knowledge or skill set and you’re lazy and full of shit but you want to make a decent wage, then journalism’s not a bad career option. The great thing about it is that you don’t need to know anything."



At the same time he has the utmost respect for how it’s done, if it’s done right.

Money quote:

"“Seymour Hersh is the guy I really, really admire….He’s old school. He’s the kind of guy who sits and pores over the newsletters of all these minor government agencies to see who retired that week so he can approach that person to see if he’s got any stories to tell on his way out of service. There are a few guys like that who are still out there, but they’re all holdovers from a lost age. I’d like to say that I’m the continuation of that crop of journalists, but I’m totally not."



My buddy Ed, who sent this pointer, summed it up: “This guy Taibbi is the closest thing to Hunter Thompson Rolling Stone has had since well, Hunter Thompson."


Sigh.

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