At a recent panel about the woes of the press in an era of devastating change, the brilliant Tom Rosenstiel (the founder and director of the Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism) related a parable he likes to tell about how to attract the public's attention.
He contrasted two characters: a young woman who had devoted her life to playing the violin, and a young woman eager for the public's attention. Challenged to prove themselves in the public square, each went down to the street to show off their talents. The violinist played, and struggled to attract a handful (much as Joshua Bell, one of the world's greatest violinists, struggled to attract listeners at a crowded Metro stop in D.C. last year, as shown in an award winning story by Gene Weingarten). The other young woman went down into the street and took her clothes off and attracted a huge crowd.
In a real-life 21st-century version of this story, a terrific free-lance writer named Nancy Rommelman, now located in Portland, has begun taking her clothes off for money...for a good cause (an Oregon food bank). I couldn't believe she was doing it at first, esp. since she's married and a mom, but check it out...her striptease is real, and she's cute.
But Rosenstiel's story doesn't end after the first day.
Imagine, he says, what would happen on the second day, and the third day, and so on. The violinist would continue to play, and continue to attract a small number of listeners...but over time, if she was good, her audience would grow. In contrast, the naked woman would still attract attention, but her act would grow increasingly stale with each passing day, pushing her towards more outrageous and humiliating stunts. This, argues Rosenstiel, is the fate of the sensationalist press. What works for a day, fades quickly; in contrast, what works over time, gains in stature.
But with Rommelman, one doesn't have to choose. She's very pretty, and very smart, and one can hardly argue with the cause (heck, even unemployed me donated). Give her a chance...
