September 22, 2004

Let Me, For One, Be the First to Boost "Obsidian Wings"

Obsidian Wings appears to be depressed:

Obsidian Wings: Humbling Reality Check: In the comments on Brad DeLong's blog, someone offered a humbling comparison of the influence of NYT columnist David Brooks versus that of the collective writers of Obsidian Wings. There just aren't enough emoticons: "Who knows what Brooks believes. But people believe him. Conducting an informal survey (and taking liberties with the notion of data) shows that drivel sells. In a survey of Google Hits its DavidBrooks:ObsidianWings--127,000:33,000."

Look: the fact that David Brooks--with all of the (fading) authority of the New York Times and the Weekly Standard behind him--out-hits Obsidian Wings by only four to one is remarkable.

Let me, for one, say that Obsidian Wings is, as a source of information and analysis, worth a dozen David Brooks's. Hell, if only Obsidian Wings would quote Paul Krugman a little bit more, there is no way anyone could avoid concluding that Obsidian Wings is worth more than the entire New York Times two-page editorial spread.

Posted by DeLong at September 22, 2004 07:46 PM | TrackBack
Comments

And don't forget while there's only one Obsidian Wings, there are many, many, David Brookses - one at Harvard, one at Univ Neb-Lincoln, one at a gallery in Canada, etc. (Since they come out at 122K on my Google, I assume OW didn't filter for non-wimp David Brookses.)

Posted by: farbear at September 22, 2004 09:03 PM

"there is no way anyone could avoid concluding that Obsidian Wings is worth more than the entire New York Times two-page editorial spread."

Damning with faint praise, Professor? :)

With the exception of Krugman, a roll of cheap toilet paper is worth more than the entire New York Times two-page editorial spread. At least toilet paper makes better scents and cleans up crap instead of dumping it.

Posted by: Dragonchild at September 22, 2004 10:26 PM

Off topic:

Does anyone know a good webpage that tracks the fates of hostages in Iraq, those who were killed and those who were released or escaped? I had a discussion on whether the number of American hostages has already reached the milestone of 52 (the number held in the U.S. embassy in Teheran).

Thanks.

Posted by: ogmb at September 23, 2004 12:30 AM

Must keep in mind, OW and others like them contribute to Brooks hit count, while he does not contribute to theirs. If it weren't for Brooks' intellectual betters trying to balance the effect of his lack of thought, he'd have fewer hits.

Posted by: kharris at September 23, 2004 04:23 AM

they're shrill.

Posted by: Max at September 23, 2004 07:04 AM

Bob Herbert is often quite good.

Posted by: Eli Rabett at September 23, 2004 07:07 AM

There is hope is this dark age. Fafblog! has 46,100 hits for a Brooks ratio of 0.36. And I'm sure the trend line is positive.

Posted by: Matthew at September 23, 2004 08:02 AM

Pharyngula has developed this into a real metric:
http://pharyngula.org/index/weblog/comments/a_new_metric_for_my_self_adulation/


Posted by: RBH at September 23, 2004 04:13 PM