Want PROOF Journalism Has Changed? His Name is MG Siegler

MG Siegler is a boob. MG Siegler is a snot-nosed, know-nothing kid. MG Siegler is arrogant. MG Siegler doesn’t get it.

Actually, I don’t believe any of those statements. Except for the MG Siegler doesn’t get it part. And probably the part about arrogance.

MG Siegler, a writer for TechCrunch, is a pretty darned smart young guy who happens to have a great pulpit for his well-written words to be read by many thousands of people. I’ve mentioned him once before, suggesting that young Mr. Siegler suffers from that peculiar mix of hubris and arrogance that younger people tend to carry, no matter how smart they are. I’ll cop to having questioned older people’s adaptability, by the way.

But MG Siegler wrote something this morning that mostly just made me feel justified in the position I first took here two years ago. At an important level, Older People Are Smarter Than Younger People.

AOL, they of Content-Farm “journalism”, is in the process of removing Michael Arrington from his editorial responsibilities in association with TechCrunch. This has become big mainstream news, with even New York Times Op-Ed columnist David Carr weighing in on the issue. From where I sit it’s dismaying that AOL took so long to start working on the clear conflict of interest that having Arrington do editorial represents, but at least the situation is about to be resolved.

MG Siegler thinks AOL is doing the wrong thing. But if you read his article on the subject, you’ll find that Siegler’s only justification for that position is that without Michael Arrington TechCrunch can’t survive.

Which is not only ludicrous, but misses any point other than MG Siegler’s dedication to the guy who gave him a career and that aforementioned pulpit. And by using the now-clearly-undeserved pulpit to put forth this position, MG Siegler has proven he shouldn’t have it.

I don’t have any reason to care that MG Siegler, a guy who I’m absolutely certain would tell you he’s a journalist, is sounding instead like an amateur blogger, lending credence to those who would argue that blogging is a pox on journalism. I do, though, care that AOL, which owns TechCrunch and therefore is MG Siegler’s employer, allows its “journalist” employees to publish such drivel.

Is this an old guy/young guy thing? I sure hope not. But I’m genuinely concerned that people like MG Sigler are in a position to dominate conversations like this one, potentially obfuscating the fact that dispassionate information delivery is often more important than getting your opinion out in front of as many people as possible.

Goodbye, Michael Arrington. Maybe you’d like to take MG Siegler with you?