On the State of "Information" In the Information Age

Just finished reading the current issue of The Atlantic. (I'm not big on magazines, but I do read this one --- and yes, I read it on paper.) It contains the usual great mix of articles, poems, etc.

But one article in particular is worth reading: "The Story Behind the Story," by Mark Bowden, an informed and critical look at what passes for "journalism" today, especially on television. You can read it online here. (It is, I point out, a several-thousand-word essay, not a short blog entry, so if you're burdened with a short attention span, well, don't bother.) Definitely worth reading.

There's a companion piece of sorts, "The Moguls' New Clothes," which looks at the dollars and cents of media in the information age. It's here, and it's worth strolling on over to The Atlantic website if only to see the illustration that accompanied this essay.

Indeed, one of the pleasures of The Atlantic is the care the editors take with illustrations --- as well as layout and font selection. Which is a fancy way of saying that the magazine is a easy on the eyes. There are entirely too many websites, magazines, and newspapers out there that are almost impossible to read thanks to bad design.

Oh --- one other piece in this issue: an essay about how and why California came to play such a prominent role in energy efficiency. Think of it as a mini-primer on the subject.

Okay, I have now fulfilled my role as a "lazy" blogger --- one of those who "reacts" to material rather than creates it. (So says Bowden in the first essay I mentioned above.)