We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
Pathos via Wordsworth
I’ve stayed out of this mess so far simply because my team and site had been so far removed from the day-to-day TC rigamarole that I felt at least slightly out of touch with the internal politics associated with Mike’s firing and the rest of it all. The gadgets and mobile guys all work for TC, obviously, but we were never part of the whole he-said-she-said world of start-ups and funding that helped TC really take off. The CG/MC team were booster engines, at best, offering that last push to send the site into orbit.
But all this back and forth is getting frustrating and, as the TC writer with the most seniority, I’d like to say a few words.
TC is not a top-down organization and we all are now working much as we had since the beginning, sans editors of any stripe. I spoke to Mike maybe thrice a year (a chat with him was our Christmas bonus) but his scoops and access were wonderful. Yes, Mike’s voice was invaluable, and, yes, AOL made a big media mistake with this whole thing. I also think that TC is bigger than Mike and Erick and Paul and MG and my team and any of the TC writers. TC is a brand, like Coke, and when you change the formula, be it a redesign or a reshuffling, 1% of the readers will be angry and 99% of the readers won’t notice. Then the 1% will get used to it. Until AOL drives things into the ground (at this rate, not an impossibility), I’m fine with how things are going. It’s nice to be in the warm belly of the beast after years of start-up rations. This whole situation is far from ideal, obviously, but on the whole we’ll be fine.
I’m no optimist, but I’m also no nihilist nor am I a fool. I’m a journalist. Some of us at TC write about gadgets, some write about start-ups. I try to help people when I can and my goal is to treat the reader like a good buddy who might be asking me questions about a certain product, technology, or bit of news. None of us are curing cancer here, but I like to think we’re adding something to the culture, to the industry, and to the general advancement of the human race.
Basically I’m saying “Don’t Panic” – that’s assuming that the inside baseball associated with tech blogs was something that has been keeping you up at night. The drama on the site is just that, drama. Everyone involved should have just shut up but it will be over soon and we’ll be back to what we do best. I just want to do our work, unfettered. I hope that whoever is now in charge is smart enough to know that’s the best course for all of us.