January 17, 2011

"There’s no news cycle anymore."

"You don’t want to be coming into the office at 8 a.m., and everyone is saying, 'Oh my God, can you believe what happened?' And you’re going, 'What happened?'"

Hmm. Do I need to get up really early in the morning to try to "win the day"? Or should I put stuff up at midnight to snag these creepy people who get up at 4 a.m.?

52 comments:

kent said...

these creepy people who get up at 4 a.m.?

On behalf of chronic insomniacs everywhere, Professor: yo mama. ;)

mesquito said...

What kent said. I have been getting up at 4am for years, without any alarm clocks. Trust me. There ain't shit happening. At 5am central Mika commences rolling her eyes, in mock disgust, at Joe Scarborough.

Known Unknown said...

Sleep-blogging.

Ambrose said...

Looks like Abbey Road.

garage mahal said...


Hmm. Do I need to get up really early in the morning to try to "win the day"? Or should I put stuff up at midnight to snag these creepy people who get up at 4 a.m.?


No kidding. Sort of like strategically releasing a video at 4:00 a.m. to make sure it makes the daily news cycle.

mesquito said...

And everyone knows the juiciest news hit the wires late Friday afternoon.

Anonymous said...

We don't talk about politics in my office.

The diversity thing has produced a dramatic flip-flop that precludes discussion.

I work with several Pakistani and Indian programmers. They are devout Muslims and Hindus. They don't drink or smoke because of religious principle. In conversations, I've discovered that the Indians all lived in arranged marriages. We've never talked about it, but I would guess that these people believe that woman who sleeps with more than one man during her life is a whore.

So, amusingly, in the uber hip liberal environment where I work, politics simply cannot be discussed. Too many landmines.

Six years ago, I worked in an almost entirely gay, extremely liberal shop. Politics were discussed all the time. Meetings started with proclamations that "Bush is an idiot." And vitriol against evangelical Christians (actually, all Christians) was openly expressed.

So, the moral is, you can bitch at Christians all you want, but you'd better watch your ass when it comes to Muslims and Hindus. And, don't talk about the news or current events, because there will be hell to pay.

yes said...

In 2001 I was working at home and, like a good liberal, got my daily news from NPR radio at 4 PM. On September 11, I didn't find out about the WTC attack until 11 AM when someone called to tell me a class we were both taking had been cancelled. My reaction, of course: "What happened?"

wv distench
distench of smug leftists on the live NPR call-in show that night talking about how it was America's fault. I never listened to NPR again.

MayBee said...

Not everyone is EST. 4 am EST is 4pm in parts of Asia.
I used to be *that* creepy person.

Anonymous said...

Glenn begins throwing up his links at 7am.

If you haven't got a good post up prior to 6am, you're not doing everything you can to "win the day."

Glenn is the Google of Bloggers. Game his algorithm and you'll "win the day."

Glenn's algorithm:

* Be first
* Post about hot girls in scuba gear.
* Be interesting.
* Have lots of interesting astute commenters adding to the quality of your posts.
* More hot girls.
* Link to Helen often
* Post of girls modeling Amazon.com bikinis with links to said bikinis featuring Glenn's associate code.
* No trolls like AlphaLiberal scatting up the joint
* Did I mention you should intersperse lots of posts of hot, hot girls?

WIN THE DAY!

Automatic_Wing said...

This guy gets paid to come in early and type up a two-page summary of the news every day before 8 am, really? Doesn't his boss know how to find the Drudge Report?

Trooper York said...

* Did I mention you should intersperse lots of posts of hot, hot girls?"

Just because you do that doesn't mean you are going to get thousands of clicks. Trust me, I know this for a fact.

Anonymous said...

Trooper, you racist...

Where are the pictures of scantily clad Asian, black and hispanic girls?

By the way, I was very sad to hear that Vanessa Del Rio retired. When was that?

What a loss!

ricpic said...

Unless you're a morning person nothing's worse than being hit by frantic inquiries about anything at 8 AM.

Palladian said...

I must still be a dirty hippie at heart because the thought of those bright-faced young things in the article, eagerly getting up at 4 a.m. and playing the game in a suit and tie, made me nauseous.

I don't get up at 4 a.m., though sometimes I'm still up at 4 a.m.

Anonymous said...

No one with a real job can be a successful blogger.

BJM said...

Being on the Left Coast and a night owl, I'm often one of those people still commenting on the previous day's news cycle at 4:00 AM EST.

Trooper York said...

You have to keep scrolling down dude. You missed my tribute to Pam Grier.

Anonymous said...

"Just because you do that doesn't mean you are going to get thousands of clicks. Trust me."

I'm pretty sure it couldn't hurt.

Also, anybody who posts Steve McGarrett and Mannix shots is aces in my book.

Trooper York said...

By the way, Vanessa Del Rio is now on the Supreme Court.

Haven't you been paying attention?

traditionalguy said...

That's news to me.

somefeller said...

These are the sorts of jobs that you need to be in your twenties to want to do and enjoy. And there's nothing wrong with that - everything has its proper moment in life.

Toad Trend said...

I too like the Instapundit in terms of getting the latest pertinent and timely links.

Especially like the 'shtick' he occasionally uses - example:

"They told be if I voted for John McCain, Gitmo would never close (or some other supposed result of far-right doctrine) - and they were right!"

He also links to articles in Popular Mechanics which usually satisfy my 'Jones' for techie/geeky/DIY stuff.

rhhardin said...

When you're up at 4am, you can watch sunset in Sydney.

Anonymous said...

"No one with a real job can be a successful blogger."

Unless you work in government, like Ann does, and you have tenure, which means you don't even have to show up.

THEN ... you can be a blogdiva.

(Do I sound bitter?)

The Crack Emcee said...

If I can sleep, I awake at 4:30AM as well. "Sleeping in" is 6AM. It's an old habit from the military, and then playing music, where you had to get up early so you can arrive in the next city for a drive-time radio interview.

I don't need much sleep, so it's easy.

The Crack Emcee said...

Leo Ladenson,

No one with a real job can be a successful blogger.

It definitely don't help (says the guy blogging from work,...)

MadisonMan said...

I get up at 4 AM if I have a 5:15 AM flight at the airport. Or if the dog is whining.

Phil 314 said...

This guy gets paid to come in early and type up a two-page summary of the news every day before 8 am, really?

I thought slavery is illegal? Or maybe its stupidity.

And has the boss ever heard of telecommuting. This could all be done from home!

Unknown said...

If there's no news cycle, you might as well get up at 4pm, although that means George Marshall's rule goes out the window.

PS Somebody needs to tell Troop you can overdo Rule 5.

Trooper York said...

Hey I don't have just hot girls. I even have big thinkers like Bob Wright.

Just sayn'

JAL said...

Heck Glenn throws up posts timed to go up *WHILE you and he are sleeping* Professor. (Not together, though.)

You might try that every once in a while to give Lem something to riff off at 3 AM when he has one of his insomnia attacks.

JAL said...

@ Florida

Yes.

But you manage to find your way over here pretty frequently ;-)

Anonymous said...

"But you manage to find your way over here pretty frequently ..."

I cracked Glenn's algorithm a long time ago and probably have more posts here than Ann does.

Allan said...

Yes please post at midnight and later!

I do most of my blog reading in the early hours
and it is frustrating to me
how few posts are made at that time

Larry J said...

If I can sleep, I awake at 4:30AM as well. "Sleeping in" is 6AM. It's an old habit from the military, and then playing music, where you had to get up early so you can arrive in the next city for a drive-time radio interview.

Morning person, here. Years in the military including 6 years of rotating shift work means I can reset my body clock pretty much at will. I wake at 4:30 every weekday morning so I can get in 45-50 minutes on the treadmill (cursed be its name!) and I'm at work by 7 AM. On weekends, I may sleep in to 6 AM.

Those of you who've never done shift work (especially rotating shift work) should consider yourselves lucky. I think I aged at least 2 years for every year of shift work. It sucks the life out of you.

You know how they claim teenagers need to sleep in late in the morning? Bullshit. They just need the right motivation - the kind an Army drill sergeant can provide. It took very little time for me to get used to waking up very early when I was in basic training all those years ago. The drill sergeant provided sufficient motivation that waking proved quite easy.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

I refuse to create an account at the arch-evil NYT. I wouldn't give them the satisfaction. "Look!" they'd say, "We scored Tyrone Slothrop!" Nossir. Ain't gonna dew it.

Revenant said...

I'm in California, so by the time I get up in the morning most of the nation already knows what's going on.

For example, on 9/11 my clock radio went off and I woke up to a bizarre news story about airplanes being flown into buildings. It took me a minute to realize that it wasn't just a really unfunny morning zoo skit.

David said...

Put up stuff at midnight, for sure. Some of us are just getting started then.

David said...

"No one with a real job can be a successful blogger . . . "

The Powerline guys do ok. But there are three of them.

jungatheart said...

It's those people who get up at 3 AM that you have to watch out for.

jungatheart said...

That's cool, rh. When you refresh the screen the sail boat has moved. Magic.

Clyde said...

Not everyone works 9 to 5. For some of us, 4 a.m. is a perfectly normal time of day to be awake!

Revenant said...

No one with a real job can be a successful blogger

Depends on what you're blogging about. Plenty of blogs out there focus on things other than the news, even though they may occasionally discuss newsworthy events. If you are, e.g., a food blogger, nothing prevents you from discussing cuisine after you get home from work. The same holds true for music, art, technology, science, etc.

Even if you blog about the news, being hours (or even a day) "late" in posting can be an advantage. It discourages you from publicly saying something really stupid before all the facts are in.

traditionalguy said...

Before logging off for the night, I want to honor a famous Atlanta son who got her done in the Civil Rights push all over the South in the 1960s. He set us free from an inherited duty to divide races around here. RIP Dr King.

Methadras said...

traditionalguy said...

Before logging off for the night, I want to honor a famous Atlanta son who got her done in the Civil Rights push all over the South in the 1960s. He set us free from an inherited duty to divide races around here. RIP Dr King.


Indeed. To bad his message is lost on those that need to hear it and understand it most. Erkle knows who he is.

bagoh20 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
bagoh20 said...

""You don't want to be coming into the office at 8 a.m., and everyone is saying, 'Oh my God, can you believe what happened?' And you're going, 'What happened?'"

Oh yes I do. That's exactly what I want: To be so preoccupied with living that I have no idea what the chattering classes are up to. For example, when people are discussing American Idol and I have no idea who they are talking about; I feel superior, lucky, blessed. The news is harder, but the same dream is alive.

BAS said...

I read that article and one thing that caught my eye, was that these people have 23 year olds deciding what is important news.

Is that what happened to James Clapper, his 23 year old news guru didn't think arrests of terrorists in London were important enough?

Unknown said...

bagoh20 --

"For example, when people are discussing American Idol and I have no idea who they are talking about; I feel superior, lucky, blessed."

Bwahaha! Love it.

AllenS said...

Or should I put stuff up at midnight to snag these creepy people who get up at 4 a.m.?

I'm always up at 4 am, how did you know?

One thing that I promised myself after I retired, was to watch the sun rising every morning. I've missed maybe 2.

WV: mospin

We need mo spin of the news.

Michael said...

Hey, why get up early when you are going to live forever? You can always get up early in fifty or sixty years after you are done sleeping your life away. I am with AllenS on watching the sun rise. Why miss it?