Journalists Out of Work, But Bono Still Has N.Y. Times Column
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Leave it to a disgruntled Gen Y blogger who regularly complains about the lack of opportunities for young journalists to break through in mainstream outlets to be pissed about Bono’s place on the New York Times op-ed page.
But reading his first column of 2010 lit the fire in me all over again. In it, the well-intentioned U2 frontman bashes the over-use of top 10 lists over the last month. And then, he proceeds to offer a top 10 list, in the name of “rock star excess.” It’s a confusing, disjointed list of ideas that will “make the next 10 years more interesting, healthy or civil” and includes most of the causes he’s supported over his career: fighting illegal downloading, AIDS prevention and, of course, global peace. That last one, especially, is a great idea.
I am, of course, being extra cynical. I respect Bono’s unyielding support for a bevy of worthy causes. But his New York Times column just seems such an awkward fit for both parties. The Times itself has had to lay off people who’ve made their careers in journalism, so why is a rock star who admittedly cares little about “full stops or commas” being handed one of journalism’s most coveted pieces of real estate? It’s one thing when the Washington Post allows onetime op-ed opportunities to non-experts like Sarah Palin and Angelina Jolie, but Bono is a full-blown regular columnist.
It would also help, of course, if the column were actually good. Then it would be easy to forget how unqualified for an op-ed slot Bono was to begin with. Unfortunately, like his top 10 ideas piece illustrates, it’s all over the place. At the beginning of last year, Portfolio ran a scathing blog post addressed to Bono on behalf of all journalists:
Dear Bono,
No doubt you are, as Andy Rosenthal describes you, “an extraordinary man who thinks deeply about his art and the major issues confronting the world.” To be sure, your work on AIDS and poverty is just great. Thanks for that.
But as a newspaper columnist, you are truly an execrable failure. “Glasses clinking clicking, clashing crashing in Gaelic revelry”? Did you come up with that in a freshman writing seminar? It’s cool that you got to hang out with Frank Sinatra and all, but we really don’t care that much. You’re a rock star. It’s expected.
Bono, you don’t see us getting on stage at the Meadowlands butchering “Where the Streets Have No Name,” do you? So please return the favor and stay off the op-ed page from now on.
Respectfully yours,
Journalists Everywhere
Though it’s shrinking like all American newspapers, the New York Times is one of the last refuges of quality journalism. I almost never agree with New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, but his ascendance to that page was exciting to me: Finally, the old, gray lady had recognized that a young but proven pundit was deserving of that space. Bono’s column sends the opposite message: You’re a rock star, you can write for us whether you know how to write or not!
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Sara Libby, Jonathan D. Nicholas. Jonathan D. Nicholas said: Journalists Out of Work, But Bono Still Has NY Times Column http://bit.ly/8CBVRF [...]
This is brilliant… You really hit the nail on the head with that last statement, which can be carried over to all aspects of Bono’s work outside of his “music.”
Oh, please. Bono is allowed space for an Op-Ed because he’s very famous, and people will read it. If the publisher knows that people will read his piece, that helps advertising and subscriptions sales. It has nothing to do with his writing skills or relevance.
Of course the publishers don’t really care about the writers/reporters. They’re totally disposable. You can bitch and bitch and bitch, but it’s not going to change the fact that running an Op-Ed by Bono will produce better results for the publication.
The truth is, there is enough glorious space for all writers on the Internet, now, that who really gives a rat’s ass if Bono has an Op-Ed? Go read the BBC. Do a Google News search. Read the blogs…hell, start your own website with wires from the Associated Press and ask your friends and neighbors to write as many Op-
Eds as they like. The New York Times doesn’t have a monopoly on intelligent thought. If your only source of news, post-WWW, is the New York Times, Honey, you’ve got problems.
I “give a rat’s ass” because the New York Times still carries an air of legitimacy that most random Internet hubs don’t come close to equaling. I feel unmeasurably grateful that places like True/Slant give me an outlet for my perspectives, but I’m certainly not under any delusions that me and Maureen Dowd are on the same level just because both of our thoughts are available online.
In response to another comment. See in context »It is not a good idea to give this guy any sort of legitimacy as a writer IMO. He really does not need his ego to be bigger, unless he plans on feeding it to the poor.
What about his recent piece, that it is ok for a company to invade someones privacy and track those that share music, to stop illegal downloads! I guess his attitude changes once it is his money that is getting taken away.
I agree with Amber only in that the publisher knows that having Bono in the New York Times will sell the New York Times, have more people read the New York Times and make life better at the New York Times – if only for a short while.
But, Sara, you’re absolutely right. It’s a bunch of bull that space in the Times is taken up by a “column” by Bono, even if he most likely did it for free. And, yes, it’s great what T/S has started here and only hope that this will become one of the more successful forms of news journalism and opinion in the coming decade.