Blogger Parasites

Only in the New York Times could you see a long article on exurban sprawl without a word about the impacts of it, including increasing air pollution and consumption of petroleum (people commute further, duh), loss of farmland and habitat, degradation of water quality, and increasing propensity for overweight and obesity through excessive reliance on automobiles (because nothing is within walking or biking distance). Where’s James Howard Kunstler when you need him? There’s plenty of hand-wringing on how these people will vote in the next election, though. Reporter Rick Lyman’s remedial reading on this topic can be found here, here and here.

Shifting gears for a moment, I find that because I’ve linked to free online content provided by a newspaper, I’m a parasite, at least according to Richard A. Posner. Judge Posner sits on a federal appeals court, teaches law at the University of Chicago and writes prolifically. A sample of what he’s about, in his own words, is here on Slate. He’s a very well read and thoughtful man, who’s obviously smarter and has better work habits than I. I encountered his name in the days when I read Slate regularly, as the author of Public Intellectuals: A Study in Decline. However, in this case he might be a demonstration of his own theorem, which is that celebrity makes you stupid.

According to WhirldView, bloggers copy “the news and opinions generated by the conventional media, often at considerable expense, without picking up any of the tab”, undermining the ability of media outlets to fund the reporting bloggers depend on. Judge Posner might have a point with some blogs, such as the ones with posts saying in essence “this is interesting read the whole thing”, or “this is interesting see what witty comments I can make about it”. This does a real disservice to the bloggers who genuinely have something entertaining to say, or link you to stories in the conventional media that normally wouldn’t get too much traffic, or more importantly, provide amplification or correction as needed. Quite often, when I cite something from the conventional media, it’s because the story isn’t very accurate, complete or informative, such as the Times writing about exurban sprawl in Florida. . . .