Paul Boutin

For what it’s worth, I hadn’t thought of this either.

Leading researcher and biodefense thinker Roger Brent has finally published “In the Valley of the Shadow of Death” [PDF], the essay he shared with me in 2004 that led to my story Biowar for Dummies.

At the same time, Brent also posted an essay about his experience at this year’s PopTech conference, called “Power and Responsibility.” [PDF]. I’m reading it now.

“Now is the winter of our discontent,” TechCrunch owner and editor Mike Arrington writes, sort of, on his personal blog. He’s heading north to the Seattle area to take a couple months off to “get his bearings” because he’s “burned out” on the never-ending chain of 2-minute pitches.

I suspect he’s also tired of the criticism he sees as “bashing” him.

I don’t know Mike, but I like TechCrunch. It’s a value-add for lots of people. I use it as a directory rather than a buyer’s guide, and for that it’s well done. When I saw that Mike was leaving town for a break, I was tempted to email him some friendly advice. Then I realized a lot of other self-publishers could probably benefit from it. The following is not one of those passive-aggressive “open letter to Mike Arrington” posts we roll our eyes at. It’s a couple of rules I learned in my career as an evil mainstream media writer.

Rule 1: Get used to the abuse.
I rarely have a week where someone doesn’t directly or indirectly claim that I, or one of the publications I write for, or everyone who does what I do is dishonest, corrupt, on the take, or pushing a covert agenda. It’s annoying, but I’ve gotten used to it. It’s part of being successful at what you do. I can only imagine what Chris Anderson’s inbox looks like.

Rule 2: Write about the story, not yourself.
Louis Rossetto set a great example at Wired. After an initial mission statement, he mostly stayed out of the magazine and let the stories do the talking. No monthly column from the editor. I don’t look at TechCrunch to learn what’s going on with Mike Arrington, I check it to see what info and insights Mike has collected on Web 2.0 startups. I couldn’t care less about the parties and conferences. I don’t need TechCrunch to link to or respond to articles about itself.

Rule 1 + Rule 2 = Rule 3

Rule 3: The more you complain about people bashing you, the more they’ll bash you.
If I were a TechCrunch competitor, I’d smell blood in the water right now. How to get Arrington to quit? Keep pounding him! Ditto for any number of startups trying to get TechCrunch to provide them with marketing collateral. Readers pick up on the wariness, too. Is Mike still posting what he really thinks, or is he backing off because he’s tired of being insulted? Every time you post that you’ll never give in to the pressure, you’re advertising the fact that the pressure is getting to you.

I think the above applies to anyone publishing anything, either standalone or for the New York Times.

UPDATE: see Part II, How to Fight with Other Bloggers