Michael Wilson's "In New York, Only Older Officers Pack the Old .38" appeared on page one of Thursday's New York Times. And readers of this site weren't pleased.
Elaine: "It's that Tommy Wolfe electric koolaid kind of thing passing for reporting."
Brad concurred: "All these decades later, the Times discovers 'new journalism?' Talk about institutional inertia!"
Toby: "Is this 'new journalism' by way of retro? Is that the reason for the Dragnet tone throughout this article? It's obvious the writer knows how to ape a tone, but can he write in his own voice? And does this imitation belong on the front page? No! And no!"
Keesha: "It's a mess, a complete pileup on the front page. It's as though Mariah Carey decided to put her usual vocal gymanstic workout into 'Frere Jacque.' You're left scratching your head and feeling that the voice overwhelmed the song or in this case the story."
Frank in Orlando, who usually finds something to defend in the Times: "An embarrassment to a great paper. That's all I'll say."
Sherry wonders whether the editors read these stories (she uses a stronger term) before printing them. Rory thinks Wilson's attempting to audition for William Safire's op-ed space via the front page. Geneva says no one read it before it was printed "because an editor worth his salt would have crumpled it up and tossed into file thirteen."
Gore Vidal Is God: "I read __ like this and wonder if the paper is just giving up. It's been a long time since it's featured strong writing. Wilson attempst a star turn that overwhelms the story."
Abhilasha: "Articles like this make me wonder why I even bother picking up NYT."
Inez in New Mexico: "Gun porn! Just like Erika said! Why Times is pushing this on the front page is well beyond me but it doesn't belong on the front page. It's badly written and the sort of 'let me prove I'm a real man' trash that falls into the same category as the wet dreaming over sports that too often graces the front page of Times."
Brandon: "NY Times is in the midst of a sexual panic after realizing it's not middle of the road but middle aged and so it pops Viagra by the fistful and stories like this spring up on the front page. It's been called the 'gray lady' one too many times and is bound and determined to prove virility ... masculinity ... potency! It's the slightly tipsy 50 y.o. neighbor who shows up at your graduation party as a favor to your parents and tries to be 'hip' by asking 'so you kids still listening to that neato Guns & Roses?' You end up being embarrassed and wish he'd act his age."
Trina: "I'd say it damages the paper but [Judith] Miller's already taken care of that. Remember when you felt like you could trust the paper? Be proud you read it? Those days get more distant."
No one wrote in (common_ills@yahoo.com) to defend the article or Wilson's writing style.
