Why Oh Why Can't We Have a Better Press Corps? (Los Angeles Times/Joel Stein Edition)

Wow:

Joel Stein: Have something to say? I don't care - Los Angeles Times: Not everything should be interactive. A piece of work that stands on its own, without explanation or defense, takes on its own power. If Martin Luther put his 95 Theses on the wall and then all the townsfolk sent him their comments, and he had to write back to all of them and clarify what he meant, some of the theses would have gotten all watered down and there never would have been a Diet of Worms...

But... But... But... But...

Luther did put his 95 theses on the wall. And he asked for everybody interested to send him comments. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther mailed his theses to Pope Leo X, the Archbishop of Mainz, his friends, and scholars at other universities besides Wittenberg. He probably posted them on the Castle Church door as well--the standard way of advertising a theological event. He asked readers to come to Wittenberg to discuss and debate his theses, and if they could not do so, to debate him by letter.

Here's Martin Luther:

Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences: Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg, under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and Lecturer in Ordinary on the same at that place. Wherefore he requests that those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us, may do so by letter.

In the Name our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (1) Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Poenitentiam agite, willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance...

I don't know what I'm going to say in fifty years when my great-grandchildren ask me, "Great-grandpapa, what were newspapers?" Perhaps: "Well, they were big buildings located in cities, where managers paid people to be ignorant and write about things they did not understand..."

Comments

[howard]

prof, you know perfectly well what you're going to tell your grandchildren: "newspapers were vehicles to sell advertising and they lasted until better vehicles emerged."

which is not to say that i don't agree with you about the many sorry aspects of contemporary journalism, but surely, as a first-class economist, you understand that the business of newspapers is selling advertising, not producing good journalism....

[hack]

I remember Joel Stein from Stanford. He wrote a moderately funny column for the campus paper, but it obviously detracted from his coursework.

[Jonathan Goldberg]

Our host had this post ghost-written by the renowned pundit H. O. Pitard.

Stein also proclaims:

"I don't want to talk to you; I want to talk at you."

and

"Where does this end? Does Philip Roth have to put his e-mail at the end of his book? Does Tom Hanks have to hold up a sign with his e-mail at the end of his movie? Should your hotel housekeeper leave her e-mail on your sheets? Are you starting to see how creepy this is?"

Passing over the fact that many hotels do use this and other methods to solicit customer feedback, the obvious rejoinder is Luther's:

"Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light..."

which, without prejudice, does not apply to Mr. Hanks.

[Giant Step]

Brad,

I hate to rain on your parade, but your first statement on the matter--
"Luther did put his 95 theses on the wall."-- is probably untrue. I direct you to http://www.luther.de/en/tanschl.html , where (if you can excuse the mediocre German translation) you will find this:

"Today, the majority of Luther researchers see it as fact, that Luther did not nail his theses to the door of the Castle Church on that day. But the picture of Luther nailing the theses to the door of the church is still today the most common in regards to Luther, the reformation and Lutherstadt Wittenberg."

[PQuincy]

Thanks for pointing out that Luther DID ask for comments (to put it gently), and DID explain (to the tune of some 150 volumes) over and over what he meant, refining it every step as he went along. Giant Step is right that nailing to the door of the Castle Church is probably a myth -- my version I use for students is that he posted it on the Theology Department bulletin board -- but the point is, they were THESES, whose whole purpose was to be debated. I wanted someone to point out Stein's ignorance on this, and now I can sleep better...

[PQuincy]

PS: when questioned, by the way, Luther NEVER watered his ideas down. As a rule, rather, he intensified them and took them further...but please, no one tell the Deciderator this, because he might start getting the idea his policy of never backing down might actually have some positive antecedents (assuming, of course, that some people do see Luther as a positive antecedent...)

[ajay]

I suspect that Stein's column is not meant to be serious - it is just a little too over-the-top...

[Comandante Agi]

People actually take Joel Stein seriously? That's news to me.

[Jack Roy]

You know what? This is exactly the kind of thing someone should email Joel Stein to tell him.

If only he would read his email....