In yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer, Jonathan Last (pictured) sounds off about the Internet. He writes: "It wasn't until last year that I became convinced the Internet was the locus of all evil in the known universe."

Then: "You may find this statement odd. After all, the Internet pays my mortgage, so I have a vested interest in its continued success. I've been the online editor of the Weekly Standard (www.weekly standard.com) since 2001, and I was dabbling on the InterWeb long before that. I launched a Web zine (http://go.philly.com/squiremag) with two college friends in 1997, before Web zines were cool. In 2004, I started a little blog (http://galleyslaves.blogspot. com)."

He should have added, "And go to all those sites as fast as you can! Click, click, click! I mean, even though the Internet's evil. Ahem."

My other problems with the piece:

1. Use of the word "synecdoche." I think people in Philly might think that's some kind of stromboli.
2. "Whether the person blogging is a pajama-clad lawyer or a Pulitzer-winning journalist, the medium is the message, and the message of blogging is: More! FASTER!" I don't know about that. I'm a pajama-clad Oscar-winning journalist, and I don't kick out my blog jams till noon.
3. "[Bloggers] encourage the practice of journalism to turn in on itself, to tend ever more toward navel-gazing." Okay, now that's really hitting below the belt. I just started my blog this year, but I've been navel-gazing— professionally— for seven years!
4. "Show me a New York Times story on war in Sudan, and I'll show you 20 bloggers who think the real story is how the Times fails in its coverage of war in Sudan." At least those bloggers are talking about something substantive. Go to the NYT's list of "most emailed" articles, and you'll find readers sending each other travel tips for Europe and recipes. Go to "most blogged" and you'll see a list of stories almost entirely related to politics.
5. "Except for Mark Steyn and James Lileks, it's hard to pick out even three beautiful writers from the millions of bloggers." Okay, maybe I'm not beautiful, exactly, but I've always been considered quite pretty. James Lileks has a receding hairline. But maybe it's in the eye of the beholder.
6. "Being a good writer helps a blogger about as much as a good singing voice helps a broadcast anchor." Jonathan, haven't you ever heard Katie Couric's rendition of "Memory" from Cats? It's fantastic.
7. "The Old Media - the New Yorker, the New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Atlantic Monthly - add to the store of public information in ways which seem irreplaceable." Did he just put "Inquirer" between "the New York Times" and "the Atlantic Monthly"? Cheeky monkey!

Blog humbug (but don't forget to click on my links!) [Inky]
BONUS: D-Mac strikes back [Philadelphia Will Do]