"One Size May Not Fit All" - a Guest Blog by Jack Cathey, Ph.D, CPA

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"One Size May Not Fit All" - a Guest Blog by Jack Cathey, Ph.D, CPA

Date Created: Dec 08, 2005, 07:52 PM

I recently ran across an article by Daniel Lyons on Forbes.com that struck a nerve. The article was an attack on blogs. Mr Lyons states “Web logs are the prized platform of an online lynch mob spouting liberty but spewing lies, libel and invective.” The article just bugged me. It still bugged me even after I looked up invective. Something about the article kept bugging me, not in that slow-person-in-the-left-lane kind of way, but that remember-it-the-next-morning kind of way.

What bugged me was that Mr. Lyon’s lumped all blogs into the same bucket. He described all blogs as biased and irresponsible. The reason it kept bugging me was not because I have some deep personal, political or professional passion for blogs – it was deeper than that – it bugged me as David Wilcox would say, on a metaphorical level.

It bugged me because it was written as if all blogs and bloggers were the same. It really bugged me because Mr. Lyon did what I do sometimes – he lumped a bunch unique people into a big one-size-fits-all category. I think when you treat a group of people as if everyone in the group is all the same you end up treating each person a little less like a person and little more like a thing.

I was reminded of a time when I was a volunteer at a homeless shelter in downtown Charlotte. My job was to interview each of the men as they arrived for the evening – basically to collect some information that allowed the shelter to get reimbursed for a part of the cost of their meal and keeping the place warm and somewhat clean. Many of the men that came in couldn’t read or write, so after a while instead of asking them to complete the form, I started just asking the questions and writing down their answers. After doing this for about a half an hour in what I am now sure must have been my “I’ m t a l k i n g s l o w l y s o y o u w i l l u n d e r s t a n d m e” voice, one of the men stopped me. He said in a both a gentle yet angry tone “You know I can fill this out myself if you like - I’m homeless, but I’m not illiterate.”

I guess making assumptions about other people is just a relational shortcut. Instead of taking time to get to know someone we just chunk them into a box based on our quick observation and categorization of them.

So here’s a suggestion during this holiday season for us all to try. Stop and think about the categories you often default to – it’s easy to find them because they usually have a label – rock star, roadie, Muslim, Christian, Jew, yankee, redneck, PR rep, reporter, driver, crew guy, boss, waitress, artists, Democrat, Republican, etc.

Pick a category that carries with it something negative. With your category in mind, think of someone you know that “fits” inside the category. Now, for the hard part, take a big risk – take some time to actually get to know that person – ask them out to lunch, ask them over for dinner, hang around their cubicle, walk out to the parking deck together after work.

Maybe, just maybe, you’ll find that they don’t quite fit the template. Maybe, just maybe, you ‘ll find that in the midst of getting to know them that they are actually a little more complex and interesting than the box you had put them in. And maybe, just maybe, the next time you are tempted to dump someone else into that category you will stop and say, “You know, why don’t I just get to know them first?”

I want to propose a moratorium on all motorsports media covering motorsports media. There’s a lot of good stuff written covering the competition and the events and even better stuff about the people who drive and build the cars and the teams. So don’t get me wrong – I’m not down on motorsports media - but I am really down on motorsports media covering motorsports media.

Specifically, could we please consider an embargo on the following:

(1) Articles about press conferences – not articles reporting on a press conference, but articles that “report” that a team or driver will be holding a press conference – there’s no story there! – the only story will be what happens in the press conference itself (maybe)!

(Editor's Rant: Jack, if you could see how inane and boring most of these 'news' conferences were, you'd consider the mere announcement of a conference to be nearly as noteworthy. Heh heh.)

(2) Articles reporting Nielson and other viewership statistics – in other words how many people watched a race. I just don’t think that each race’s TV ratings are news. I understand that NASCAR is negotiating a new TV contract, but it just seems like something a we-wanna-be-big-time sport would do, not something the leading motorsports series in the U.S. needs to do.

So, please, if anyone in the motorsports media world is listening, the next time you find yourself writing a story not about THE story – the races, the championships, the people - but about the media that cover the story - a press conference or a Nielson overnight report - stop and say to yourself maybe there are other more interesting and more important stories left to tell.

BIO:
JACK CATHEY single-handedly raises the educational credibility of the entire site as our first Ph.D. guest blogger. He's the wizard of the Accounting department at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte (I'm not 100% certain 'wizard' is an official part of his job title, but it should be). He's a certified race fanatic, a persistent and courteous kart racer and owner of Race Shops.com - a must-have item should you make the pilgrimage to the Charlotte-area race shops. You can find out more about Jack at his UNCC web locale. He's also the one with the foresight (or mad genuius) to recommend frappr to us. And, yes, he HAS invited me (at his own great peril) to lunch...

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