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About ArmaVirumque ( AHR-mah wih-ROOM-kweh) In the Aeneid, the Roman poet Virgil sang of "arms and a man" (Arma virumque cano). Month in and month out, The New Criterion expounds with great clarity and wit on the art, culture, and political controversies of our times. With postings of reviews, essays, links, recs, and news, Armavirumque seeks to continue this mission in accordance with the timetable of the digital age. Recent posts
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Aug 01, 2007 02:42 PM by James Panero
Like the Romans at a time of war opening the gates of the Temple of Janus, Armavirumque raises the alarm of the Jodi Kantor Watch once more. Longtime readers of this weblog will remember the ’Kantor watch’ well. When she was the young editor of the ’Arts & Leisure’ section of The New York Times, riding the coat tails of disgraced editor Howell Raines, Jodi Kantor came to be the willful embodiment of downmarket journalism. Since her ’reassignment’ after Raines’s departure, Kantor has practiced her hackwork in long form, chasing the Zeitgeist, writing thought pieces for the Times on pressing subjects such as the changing size of television sets. For a complete history of the Kantor Watch, follow our helpful blog index: "Jodi Kantor watch" ("What has been Kantor’s answer to high culture: the brit-angst-pop band Radiohead, which appeared on the A&L cover soon after her arrival...") "Jodi Kantor and the Boss" ("Bruce Springsteen at Giants Stadium may be big news to many people, but is it truly ’one of the biggest stories in open-air entertainment since the Christians and the lions’?") "J.K.W., cont." ("The Arts & Leisure section of the New York Times features a few stories that demonstrates (a) the emotional maturity of one of America’s most favored cinematic enfant terribles and (b) the general incompetence of current New York Times culture editors.") "Jodi Kantor red alert" ("What is a Times reader to make of this approving look at a delirious non-music, music without "anything in particular to say," music fueled by codeine-infused cough syrup?") "J.K.W: The Case of the Trendy Tranny" (" The Gray Lady is now The Gray ’Lady.’") "Our dessert’s better" ("’We did one of the first big pieces on Usher!’") "Student council for grown ups" ("What might Jodi Kantor’s "global and regional strategy" be? She and Bono are hard at work on the answer.") ’Jodi Kantor watch: Heather plays her last round of mean croquet’ (The end of the line for Jodi... or is it?). Well, call it ’The Return of the Jodi.’ Today over at Contentions, occasioned by Kantor’s puff piece on Chelsea Clinton, a bright young Commentary editor whom I just love (and who happens to be my wife) marvels at the pointlessness of all things Jodi: It’s hard to grasp the point of yesterday’s front page New York Times article on Chelsea Clinton by wunderkind reporter Jodi Kantor. While it’s clear that Kantor intended her piece to reveal the “real” Chelsea, she admits at the outset that the former first daughter and her parents “turned down interview requests for the article, as they have for countless others on the subject.” So, how does Kantor remedy this lack? With received wisdom and banalities, naturally. Kantor helpfully informs readers that the young Clinton has strawberry blond hair and favors tasteful pantsuits, that she graduated in 2001 from Stanford, did a stint at McKinsey, and works at a hedge fund run by a donor to various Clinton causes. That’s hard-hitting reportage.Ouch! Check out the entire post here.
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