Keith Olbermann has the night off.
As promised earlier, here is tonight's Special Comment on words:
All this backtracking today about Jay Cutler's heart and/or toughness would not be necessary if folks on Twitter, Facebook, et al, all had editors.
Hi. I'm Mark. I'm an editor.
We live in an age of social media, I am told. And so now everyone can "publish" whatever fool thing pops into their heads and they can spew it all over everyone everywhere all of the time.
They do so because they can. What they should be considering is whether they should.
And this is not aimed just at the Cutler haters out there. We see this from all sorts of amateur communicators. Take Sarah Palin, please. You know the type: They use "targets" and talk about "reloading" and all sorts of colorful imagery to influence you.
And then you call them on their invective. And they squirm.
God help me, I love the squirm. It arouses me.
A relative forwards a crazy e-mail about President Obama. You call him on it. Send him to Snopes.com. He writes back, squirming.
The ill-informed spew their ill-informed bile on a newspaper website. You call them on it. They squirm.
(My favorite squirm line? "Well, I am not a professional like you..." As if that is excuse enough to lie or spread unfounded rumors.)
A person on Twitter gets caught up in the heat of a moment and fires off a shot about, oh, I dunno, say, Jay Cutler. You call her on it. Strained logic and denials is the reply. Her followers attack you. And late at night, those Tweets are quietly scrubbed away.
Arousal.
See, in the newsroom, what an editor does much of the time is to edit stories. We work with reporters to make sure what is reported is fair, or as fair as it can be. It is not a perfect science. But rarely, even in this Internet age, are all stories spewed out immediately from brain to computer to audience without editing.
They are vetted. Vetting takes time. Time equals thoughtful consideration.
Can we? Sure. Should we? Let's discuss. What are the ramifications?
What many amateur communicators share in this Internet age is a queer quackery about the impact of their words.
Palin last week argued simultaneously that her own words had no influence but that the words of others aimed at her had much influence.
Huh?
People, especially politicians, choose words carefully. As social animals in a social media age, we all practice the art of influence. We choose words to influence other social animals.
Yet when you corner amateur communicators, especially politicians, with an unfortunate choice of words, they will likely tell you their words have no influence whatsoever.
Until the next time they want to influence you on "Obamacare" or "death panels" or the "death tax."
Trust me, as someone who has studied and used words all of his life, words have meaning.
And with that meaning comes accountability.
So often, when I confront an amateur communicator blathering some nonsense, I will get a defensive response like: "I am entitled to ReTweet and Tweet whatever I please."
Feel free. But remember, there's a covenant shared between us social animals: You put it out there, we get to hold you accountable.
So, when you call Jay Cutler a quitter, or you ReTweet someone calling him a quitter or you agree with someone calling him a quitter, you are responsible for those words.
And you should expect someone like me to call you on it.
Because, that's the other thing amateur communicators ought to learn from a crusty old pro like me: There is no hiding from the responsibility of words.
That's why editors spend hours editing reporters. You see, when those words are published, we understand there is an audience at the other end. And that audience – your customers – are likely to pounce on you if you are not careful or responsible or truthful or accurate.
The same goes for you and your Tweets.
So, my friends in Twitterland, be responsible. Understand that the Internet is a powerful way to spread your words. Therefore, as Peter Parker learned, "With great power comes great responsibility."
Words influence. Words hurt. Words can build up. Words can tear down.
Words are powerful and we are all – every single one of us – responsible for what we say.
I hope the wildly inaccurate, hurtful, mean-spirited attacks on Jay Cutler in the aftermath of Sunday's Chicago Bears loss represents a watershed moment when many people paused to consider the impact of their words.
Jay is not a quitter. Those who characterized him as such did, for a time, quit their sensibilities.
I hope they've gotten them back. And learned a lesson.
If not, I am out there. I will find you. I will make you squirm.
More later,
Mark
