mattwaite.com

This blog has been quiet of late because I've been working in every spare moment I have on a couple of projects that are going to launch soon, good lord willing and the creek don't rise. Given that I'm sleep deprived, stressed and generally ground down to a nub, it's a bad, bad time for me to read my media-heavy RSS feeds.

Before I get myself into trouble, I just want to say this: If all these people who know so much about journalism on the web spent less time on waving their arms in hysterics and actually built something -- created value, or tried a new model instead of opined on one -- the world would be a very different place.

So, memo to journo-bloggers: Less talk, more walk. Build something or STFU. When that urge to run to Wordpress so you can tell us your thoughts on paid content or aggregation or community strikes you, stop yourself and spend that time actually creating something that does what you say. I'll care about your thoughts when you can include a URL to your thoughts actually working.

Those who are making a go at it, who are actually walking the walk, will understand this:

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. Shame on the man of cultivated taste who permits refinement to develop into a fastidiousness that unfits him for doing the rough work of a workaday world. Among the free peoples who govern themselves there is but a small field of usefulness open for the men of cloistered life who shrink from contact with their fellows. Still less room is there for those who deride or slight what is done by those who actually bear the brunt of the day; nor yet for those others who always profess that they would like to take action, if only the conditions of life were not what they actually are." -- Teddy Roosevelt, 1910

Comments

Craig's comment on March 3, 2009 9:19 a.m.

I agree with your point but...you know, that's one of Charlie Crist's favorite quotes too. I'm just sayin'.

Steve Buttry's comment on March 3, 2009 9:21 a.m.

Bull's eye! (And with a TR quote to boot.)

Cotey's comment on March 3, 2009 9:26 a.m.

So, when do the "Build Something Or STFU" tee-shirts hit the market? I'm in for two.

Mark Schaver's comment on March 3, 2009 9:33 a.m.

Praise be.

David Johnson's comment on March 3, 2009 9:51 a.m.

tracked back and tweeted.

testify, my brother.

Matt Waite's comment on March 3, 2009 9:54 a.m.

Here you go Cotey. http://twitpic.com/1ti12

fish's comment on March 3, 2009 10:16 a.m.

As we say at the dearly departed Rocky Mountain News, Rock On, Matt!

Mark Potts's comment on March 3, 2009 11:50 a.m.

Hey Matt:
With all due respect, STFU yourself. Some of us who blog about the future of the journalism business have been building real products and companies for many years, and continue to do so. That's what informs our commentaries. There are often confidentiality reasons why we can't write about what we're currently working on. So your snark is really misdirected. (Though I can think of an exception or two that deserves it!)

You're doing good work at Politifact. You don't have to denigrate others who may be doing good work quietly--and have been pioneers for years.
Regards

Derek Willis's comment on March 3, 2009 12:23 p.m.

I think the key point about Mark's comment is this: "some of us". That's exactly it, it's "some," and way too few for my liking.

I don't see Matt's posting as snark at all. Rather, what I see from the majority of journalism bloggers I see is a tendency to denigrate as many people as they can (and the bigger the target, the better, of course) in order to boost their own profiles. All without contributing anything that extends beyond a repetition of who doesn't "get it."

And as somebody who also is bound by confidentiality for many work-related matters, you can *still* contribute something other than talk and insults.

There's something to be said for a balanced approach, and many journalism bloggers I see are seriously lacking when it comes to walking the walk. What Matt said needed, and needs, to be said.

Matt Waite's comment on March 3, 2009 12:57 p.m.

Mark,

If you are walking the walk, my beef isn't with you. Sorry that point wasn't clear to you. My anger - snark doesn't do justice - is directed at people who I call all hat and no cattle.

Mark Potts's comment on March 3, 2009 2:31 p.m.

Matt:
Then I suggest that you call those slackers out by name (I can think of a couple--though I don't know what they may be working on behind the scenes). Otherwise, you're tarring some very talented, hardworking people with a too-broad brush. There's lots going on that you just can't know about.

And don't be so quick to slam what amounts to constructive suggestions from some of us--even the all-hat, no-cattle crowd. They're often based on real-world experience, and given the utter lack of imagination in most of the newspaper business, those suggestions deserve some attention and action from people in a position to make change.

I'm far angrier at those in key jobs who are standing idly by watching the industry immolate than I am at those who are carping from the outside about necessary changes. You're frustrated, and guess what--so are we.

Matt Waite's comment on March 4, 2009 11:16 a.m.

Mark,

Naming people specifically does nothing but turn this into a junior high pissing match with people I have no interest in engaging. I've said what I'm going to say. I don't believe anything I've said denigrates anyone who is out there actually doing it, if I know about it or not. If you're out there busting your ass on a project that you believe in, nothing I've written says "this is aimed at you." It's the people who are pissing on other people's efforts while contributing little if anything of their own. And I'm sure you can name some of them too. I have no interest in doing so.

Patrick Beeson's comment on March 7, 2009 7:36 a.m.

Great entry Matt. This is what I strive for now (in what spare time I have), which probably accounts for the lack of entries on my blog recently.

Of course, I think folks should still write about new ideas. But as you said they should be willing to act on them too.

Mark S. Luckie's comment on March 22, 2009 11:38 a.m.

Honestly this is why I created 10,000 Words. Too much talk not enough practical information on the future of journalism.

Carl Ganter's comment on March 22, 2009 12:52 p.m.

Agreed.
And channeling efforts to covering global water issues, with depth and sans advocacy bent. (And adding some cool new technology, too: http://bit.ly/ozzideas )

We're missing the Big Stories of the 21st century because we're looking at our toes. Look up, look around. Let's get to work.

Ernie Smith's comment on March 22, 2009 2:31 p.m.

Yeah. Agreed. When I got laid off, that's what I did. I built a freakin' Web site (http://shortformblog.com/). I didn't pontificate. I just did it. Too many people pontificate.

Digidave's comment on March 29, 2009 10:43 p.m.

Matt
You are a badass and I love you for that.

Now is the time for doing.

That said: I think everyone is "doing" their part - even if it is just to be a critic, pontificator, etc.

But those are also the individuals that are easily forgotten.