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February 19, 2007
Snark Attack
I was just listening to a local NPR show on which they were going to discuss a WWII battle in which many men died of shark attack. It suddenly brought to mind Rebecca Traister, and then I realized I had misheard "shark" as "snark."
In response to Istanbulwitchy and Shelia's comments, I have as of late instituted a policy that with rare exceptions, I will only do interviews with medical or science correspondents. People who are interested in freak shows and snark aren't welcome. Of course I can't control the random columnist who decides, without ever even talking to us, to pass judgement in a national magazine. But I can control whom I speak with, and I'm not going to talk to media who aren't interested in science.
That being said, I think that the Grazia piece was one of the best ever written about CR. While there was one massive misquote, the piece was almost entirely direct quotes from me. The pics were great, the tone was upbeat, and even the usual dietician quoted to say that CR might be dangerous just reiterated what we always say: "Don't do this unless you're willing to put in the work to get the nutrition you need."
I've actually turned down some requests for interviews, usually on the advice of friends who follow popular culture a bit more closely than I do.
No doubt there will be more snark attacks, but even those seem to yield good things. Chicago Cyclist Chris came to us from the nasty Salon piece... he was smart enough to see through the snark and get the point that Traister missed. And the New York Magazine piece brought us more readers than anything else ever has. So while these things often seem to go terribly wrong, they often come round right in the end.
Posted by april at February 19, 2007 8:15 AM
Comments
in terms of press coverage, i am just glad that cnn seems to be moving toward constant coverage of your home. i look forward to the day when i can just turn on cnn whenever i want see what's going on with mr. thumbs. : )
Posted by: emma at February 19, 2007 10:38 AM
You and Michael are perfect examples of successful CRers IMO. Hope you continue to make media appearances!
You are both doing it for life extension, and thats what makes the story interesting. Millions read about weight watchers, atkins and the rest every day... Doing a story that MILLIONS of people do is not interesting. or is it :S
CRON is something different... we've put ourselves into a unique situation for the rest of our lives. We don't know whether our cohort will eventually drop like flies or live to 110-120-130.
If I wasnt a CRer then i'd find a story of people doing moderate - extreme CR more interesting, than someone doing a typical weight loss diet. Thats just my opinion. No offense to those on those weight loss diets!
Posted by: Matt - uk at February 19, 2007 4:21 PM
Hi April!
What a coincidence that you should write about the New York Magazine article, I just came across it this week by accidental google :) I had never heard of CRON, but after reading the article I was intrigued and googled your blog. I have since been reading yours (from the beginning ofcourse, I'm up to August 2004) along with many others (just finished skinny bitch's).
Anyway, just wanted to say hello. I will continue to read as I am interested in learning more about CRON and I love your posts.
Be Well,
Jacq
Posted by: Jacqueline at February 21, 2007 5:48 AM