• MarketWatch, Monday, January 9, 2006 10:45 AM

MarketWatch media columist Jon Friedman apparently enjoys snarkiness as much as the next guy, but he warns that it has become so prevalent in journalism today that it's in jeopardy of becoming the norm.  "It's possible, if the movement continues to build more forcefully, that a generation of young journalists will take their cues and allow commenting to replace reporting," writes Friedman.  Who is to blame? Friedman digs into the history books and cites various origins, in print and broadcast journalism.  In the modern era, he says, it's the political satirists who have had a great impact.  Most recently, blame the rapid rise of snark on such practitioners as Jon Stewart, Maureen Dowd, David Letterman, Don Imus, and Andy Borowitz, among others.  Says Friedman: "A snarky attitude can be found everywhere now, except in the New York Review of Books."  He's not opposed.  He simply asks that attitude not replace actual shoe-leather-style reporting.

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