And the claws come out in the SF Chronicle Today.
Writer (notice she doesn’t call herself a journalist) and fetish model, Violet Blue, has composed a rather half-baked, sexist story about me and appears to be smoking more than a bit of crack herself.
Interestingly, for someone who claims to follow all the traditional rules of journalism, she never bothered to shoot me an email, call me up or do thorough research like a good journalist should (especially one who is cracking down on others who aren’t even claiming to be journalists).
Although she acknowledges I “don’t flaunt my sweater puppies” this appeared to be an appropriate headline: Sweater Puppies and Sorta-Journalism: Actress Amanda Congdon’s not-so-sexy role as a journalist. She probably had to frame it that way in order to squeeze it into her sex column. Nice.
Again, I never said I wanted to break “all” the rules. I believe we should challenge old paradigms, reconsider old ways of doing things. Sometimes the old ways work in this new media world, sometimes they don’t. For instance, fact-checking — an old media paradigm– is one I still strive to uphold in my new media ventures. Ms. Blue might want to look into that.
1. I am not an ABC “correspondentâ€. That is a word reserved for reporters.
2. “Baron’s Vlog†is also my vlog. I was never a “face‖ if she did any research on this whatsoever she’d see that was one of the main reasons for the split. I own 49% of Rocketboom and during my time there was a producer and writer, as well as host.
3. I didn’t mention the DuPont ads at SXSW because I wasn’t sure when or IF they were going to be published. I generally don’t talk about projects until they are 100% a go. I also kept mum out of courtesy and respect for DuPont, because I didn’t know if they wanted that news to break before the launch. I found out the ads were going up the night before they did, and immediately disclosed this info on my blog.
4. The DuPont commercials are CLEARLY marked as advertisements.
The better question here is: do I belong on a news site when my videoblog is clearly a hybrid between news and entertainment? But Ms. Blue didn’t ask that question, instead she rehashed what’s already been said, with errors no less. If that’s what being a “real†journalist means, I’m certainly glad I’m not one.
That’s a shame. Ms. Blue is not a journalist, and anyone can see you are a big part of the future, this is the new way of news and either she is blinded by old conventions and doesn’t see the truth–or worse she does and she is choosing to lie about it to make a “good” article.. (IMO you belong on a news site, although it would appear that allot of people don’t agree with that POV. Oh, well–what can ya do?)
Also, I just wanted to say I had always assumed Violet was more of a human being, I guess I was wrong–is this just a random criticism or is she that type of person (I guess this means I have to stop assuming people open about sex are better people) She has no place criticizing you, I don’t even get why she wrote the article.
Well put, Amanda.
[...] Yes, Congdon has made some regrettable decisions, isn’t breaking any rules that needed breaking, and has been obnoxiously strident in responding to criticism, but by indirectly implying that she’s in a position to speak for bloggers, you’re justifying ABC and HBO’s investment in her. [...]
Pay her no mind. I think she feels slighted/out of the loop because you didn’t dish at SXSW.
You’d think someone working as a fetish model and writing a column would have a more nuanced grasp of how the old paradigms are shifting.
Sorry to over-post but I just read the Chronicle piece again and I think I see the problem. The author wants to tell you what the rules are. She wants to be free of the constraints imposed by Old Media so that she and her pals can write new constraints that they like better, which everyone then is supposed to follow. They think they know what’s best for “us” and thus she’s ripping you for breaking their rules.
She seems naive about newspapers to boot. She happens to have a gig where the corporate masters grant her freedom to say what she wants. I wonder if she realizes how rare that is in the print world? Very. I can’t think of 10 mainstream daily papers that would even let her describe herself as a fetish model in their pages.
I’ll shut up now.
I’m glad you’re not a journalist.
That article was about two weeks too late. And it says, basically, nothing. Sounds to me like Violet Blue used your name and this silly controversy as fodder for a lame story. What did she have to say that hadn’t already been covered a week or more ago by blogs?
That was pointless.
I don’t like the title of that article but I wanted to check it out so I could see what you are talking about Amanda. That’s when I read the first and second sentence and went no further. Maybe I’ll be able to stomach that ugly and negative article at some point, but right now it ain’t happening. I dig you and the work you do, for ABC for Dupont, your posts here, Starring AC, everything. You have my support, all the way.
I don’t mean any offense when I say this, but you’re not a journalist. And I should know because I am, and a very ethical, broke journalist at that.
So the same rules don’t apply. Who cares if you did an ad. They pay $$$. Go getcha some, girl.
Word! I read that article online and found it to be a) innaccurate, b). poorly researched, if at all and c) an attempt to latch on to whats left of a controversy because she doesn’t have any other ideas.
What does it mean to be a “journalist” anyways? A journalism degree?
As far as DuPont goes, the company I work for does work for them… I’m out here in Wilmington, DE, where they are primarily based… and I know first hand that having DuPont on your resume is a good thing!
RE: Amanda Congdon’s Journalism Wars…
This is a video response to Amanda Congdon’s video Journalism Wars. If you watch it and don’t know what’s going on, check out this article by Violet Blue.The Sierra Club video Dioxin, Duplicity & Dupont is pretty good.And here’s an odd video of th…
And of course, my most important criticism of Violet Blue’s article…. too many freaking parenthesis! Seriously, start counting them. It’s really an amateurish and unnecessary article. I’m full of those myself, if only somebody would pay me to write them….
“For instance, fact-checking — an old media paradigm– is one I still strive to uphold in my new media ventures.”
So Amanda, when you say things like, “I think what they do for the world Nomex, Kevlar, etc outweighs their big mistakes” you must have done a hell of a lot research and fact-checking. I don’t even understand how you judge something like that. Is it a ratio? For example, one fire fighter is worth ten poor people with cancer?