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METAFORIX MAIL Volume 1, Issue 20 December 12, 2000 CONTENTS AT A GLANCE: ON MY MIND: My Fake
Facts
ON MY MIND [From the Editor] Et Tu, New Yorker? Last week, we broke our practice of limiting our regular "In the Media" segment to items that can be located online. We urged you to leave your desk, visit the library, and read Rodney Rothman's New Yorker piece, "My Fake Job." Billed as a factual account, "My Fake Job" chronicles Rothman's stint at a Silicon Alley dotcom where he just showed up one day and started to work -- without ever having been hired. In keeping with The New Yorker's usual practice, the piece itself didn't appear on line. The same cannot be said, however, for the fallout it engendered. Rothman, it seems, neglected to tell the magazine's editors that his mother had worked at the dotcom in question, and that one or two other details -- like a workplace massage administered by a female co-worker -- were manufactured from whole cloth. Or perhaps I should say virtual cloth. While you still need to visit a library to read Rothman's original article, you needn't leave cyberspace to read what Slate's Jack Shafer calls "snarling rounds of ack-ack from the journalistic community" aimed at The New Yorker's "squadron of sharp-penciled fact-checkers." Some journalists find The New Yorker's lapse especially sweet in light of a similar incident two years ago, when the target was not The New Yorker, but The New Republic. Writer Stephen Glass was fired after his editors, tipped off by a Forbes reporter, became aware of Glass's history of playing fast and loose with the truth. Peter Canby, The New Yorker's chief fact checker, took the occasion to gloat over The New Republic's lapse. "We would have smoked it out very quickly," he bragged. New Yorker
editor David Remnick apologized publicly for "My Fake Job" via a note
on the letters page of the December 11 issue. And Slate's Shafer
offered Canby a choice between a written apology to New Republic
editor Martin Peretz and a slice of humble pie. Cordially, Lois C.
Ambash, Editor
IN THE MEDIA [a recent news article, feature, or opinion piece] Babies in the Workplace "A
Bit of Burping Is Allowed, if It Keeps Parents on the Job," a recent New
York Times article announced. A tight labor market, the desire to
keep valued employees happy, and the high cost of quality childcare arrangements
have led to a new workplace phenomenon: desktop infants. INFORMATICON "The Theology
of Our Times" "And the more the idea is rounded out by description and anticipation, the more it is believed and articulated, the more possible it becomes. This is why science fiction is now the theology of our times."
Cyberspeak
Faster than a Speeding Bullet Most of us are familiar with the term "urban legend," a story that is not true, or not quite true, or no longer true -- but keeps making the rounds and acquiring new believers regardless.Probably because of the speed of information, the term has now become associated with the Internet. In a two-second search, I found the term in five online dictionaries of computer terms. Here's a typical entry, from ComputerUser.com: "A story which is not true, or only partially true, but which circulates widely and becomes a part of popular mythology.Many urban legends are propagated on the Internet, and some will go the rounds again and again." Urban legends may concern computer viruses that don't exist, charitable appeals that ended long ago, get-rich-quick schemes, or tax hikes that no legislator has ever proposed. For an extensive catalog of urban legends and tips on "how to hoax-proof yourself," visit Walt's Navigating the Net Forum. SITE OF THE DAY [a nice place to visit] Aging in the Information Age This cool multimedia exhibit was produced by a consortium of science museums and health-related organizations. The physical version of the exhibit will travel to several American cities over the next three years -- but for now, check it out online.The beautifully-designed site contains a number of multimedia activities and games, along with a slew of interviews, articles, links and teaching resources appropriate to people of various ages. My favorite page lets you see twelve-year-olds morph into senior citizens, right before your eyes. To visit this site, go to: http://www.secretsofaging.org/index2.html GUEST COLUMNISTS
WANTED! If your column is accepted for publication, it will be permanently posted on the Metaforix web site, along with a link to your e-mail address or URL. As a small token of appreciation, you will also receive a $10 gift certificate toward your next purchase at Amazon.com. To submit
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Volume 1, Issue 19 December
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