Where is JOSH?
I have been following TPM for many years and have found Josh's focus on the issues and straightforward writing style refreshing. So refreshing, that I no longer subscribe to ANY newspapers.
But where is JOSH? He rarely writes anymore and let's other writers and bloggers define the news moment. Look at today - after a pretty bitter (pun intended) weekend - no message from Josh on what his thoughts are. I need opinion!
Finally, get rid of Horse's Mouth - he has been gone for over a month. Get someone else to do it or take it off the nav bar - I am tired of hitting it and getting the same sad mention of a "short" hiatus.
Just my 2 cents.
Advertisement
Weird... How is this at the top of Recommended Reader Posts with no recommends? Not that it shouldn't BE recommended, just seems like the technical glitches around here keep multiplying.
April 14, 2008 10:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
Rhymes - Not my fault - just trying to find out if he will be writing as frequently as he did over the past few years - I miss his tenor. - Rich
April 14, 2008 10:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yes - sorry about that Rich. Wasn't trying to say you shouldn't be recommended - just didn't realize that there were technical upgrades made to the site.
And I agree with you entirely - I hope to hear more from Josh too.
April 14, 2008 10:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yes - sorry about that Rich. Wasn't trying to say you shouldn't be recommended - just didn't realize that there were technical upgrades made to the site.
And I agree with you entirely - I hope to hear more from Josh too.
April 14, 2008 10:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
Clearly another example of my needing to read before I speak. Geesh. At least with the new "upgrade" posting doesn't take 10 minutes to show up. ;-)
April 14, 2008 10:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
"Josh" in the title is worth 100 Recommends.
HTH!
;-)
April 14, 2008 10:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
I wholeheartedly agree. I go to DailyKos now for my updates. They're much timelier and the content is more nuanced. Caveat: They're overwhelmingly pro Obama, which I don't mind, since I know it up front. I find TPM's trying to splice the middle to be phony, frankly.
April 14, 2008 10:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
WOW - you are spot on and I feel exactly the way you do. It seems as if TPM has grown too big, too fast and now they cannot handle the size. Maybe Josh is handling all the middle manager stuff.
I am too going to Kos more frequently (even though the design and layout drive me nuts visually) and add a little Huff too.
Thank you! - Rich
April 14, 2008 10:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
I got turned off from DKos when I figured out I couldn't trust the main material. They had written something or other about the EPA, and although I agreed with the sentiment, they misrepresented (badly) the bill in question. I'm not trying to convince anyone else of this (or else I'd bother trying to figure out what the @$#! I'm talking about), just merely expressing why I come to TPM instead of DKos (et al.). I trust what Josh et al. put on the front page. It's not a blind trust, mind you, but an implicit trust, nonetheless.
April 14, 2008 10:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
Isn't Josh having another kid?
I believe so and being a good father he has his priorities in order.
April 14, 2008 10:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yep, he mentioned last week that he and his wife were expecting #2 any day now. I'm sure he'll be back before they're in college.
April 14, 2008 10:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
I miss Josh's thinking, too, but when he shared his family news months ago, I figured we'd see a slow-down about now.
April 14, 2008 11:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
I see your point - but can he at least write a blog post every so often? My wife and I had two kids and we both had time for work.
April 14, 2008 10:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
So does Josh. 8 out of the last 10 postings on Talking Points Memo were written by Josh.
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/
April 14, 2008 10:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
Rich, glad to hear your *wife* had such an easy time working through pregnancy, childbirth, and parenthood. And you too. :-)
Seriously, though, you are judging rather harshly, considering you know nothing about their situation and next to nothing about what Josh's work responsibilities are. (I'll give you a clue - he's a business owner, so it's more than writing blog entries for your edification.)
If Josh wants to take some time off to attend to family, or for that matter if he wants to just go sit on a beach and sip margaritas, I'm not going to begrudge him his right to do that. It's his business, not mine, how to spend his time; if he is choosing to put his family ahead of us readers for a few weeks, well, more power to him. I'll be here when he gets back.
April 14, 2008 11:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
Rich,
Like most TPM readers, I'd love to see a steady stream of posts from Josh Marshall. There are certainly bloggers who have managed to sustain such an output - those in The Atlantic's stable spring to mind, including Matt Yglesias.
Josh has apparently decided to go a different route. He's building a new species of media operation. Think of him, if you will, as the editor and publisher of this nascent enterprise - which, come to mention it, is precisely as the masthead describes him. That's a time-consuming role. It's not that he's a "middle manager" nor that he "cannot handle the size," I suspect, but that there are a limited number of hours in the day. He's made a conscious choice not to blog constantly.
There's a trade-off here. Josh seems to be wagering that he can have a far greater impact as the guiding force behind an experimental, diversified operation than he can as a solitary blogger. You don't go to DailyKos just to read Markos Moulitsas; increasingly, TPM doesn't just draw readers who want to hear from Josh Marshall. It produces a unique blend of blogging, reported content, opinion from experts, and reader contributions that you just can't find elsewhere on the net.
Josh is an idiosyncratic blogger, and I have to say that I don't think any of the other contributors to the main blog come close to replicating his distinctive style. That's a shame, because it was his unique voice that drew me to TPM in the first place. But on the whole, it's a trade I'd willingly make. Think of the stories that TPM has broken, or perhaps more importantly, of those that its sustained coverage has kept in the spotlight. I don't think a one-man show could've done the same, and personally, I'm glad that Alberto Gonzalez is no longer our attorney general. He's made some missteps, to be sure, and I don't think all his ventures are equally worthwhile, but I'd rather have his restless intelligence set loose to experiment than chained to a keyboard. Of course, some will disagree. But don't we owe the man the chance to put his own vision into place for TPM?
April 14, 2008 11:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Recommended list is identical to the Recent list right now.
That said, I'm with you Rich, wishing to see more of Josh's analysis; so thanks for bringing it up.
Seems to me Josh started writing less about the time they started doing the videos. I'm guessing those are more time-consuming to produce than his usual written entry. On the other hand, the videos generally cover a few blog-entries worth of analysis, so perhaps the drop-off is not as huge as it appears due to the fewer number of entries he posts nowadays.
April 14, 2008 10:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
I was wondering myself about it, richgee. I guessed that he got so fed up with primaries, that couldn't wright anymore. But where are other political news?
April 14, 2008 10:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hi Folks -- I guess I'm flattered that this is seen as a problem. I think different commenters have hit the main points. TPM is now a big operation, at least if the point of comparison is a one man blog. We have 8 full time employees. And it's not simply a matter of scale but also rate of growth, both of which give me a lot of responsibilities beside writing. Second, single life was more conducive to my non-stop blogging than married life and being a father has upped the ante considerably. Those are the two main reasons. On both counts, I'm very happy with the switch. That said, however, I am working on reorienting the structure of our operation so I have more time to write, which I of course enjoy a great deal. Thanks for the kind thouhgts.
April 14, 2008 12:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
I notice Sava11's point about the primaries. This probably has played a pretty big role as well, though I think i've been writing less as a general matter for a year or two now. But yes, I'm found the primaries very unpleasant on any number of levels and at various points disgust has overwhelmed my ability/desire to write about it.
April 14, 2008 12:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
And glee...
thinking of April Fools
You're a good sport.
April 14, 2008 8:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
There's a bit of wallowing with the pigs tied in with soaring with eagles, and not everyone's adept at driving the swine into the water. Fortunately.
April 15, 2008 4:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
Josh - Thank you for your response!
You obviously know that I wrote this string for good reason - to make sure that you are alive and well!
And I do appreciate that you are working long term to make TPM a strong and successful endeavor.
One request - as your full-time employees step into the role of editors and commenters, I would love to see them highlighted in some way with their bios - it allows me to look for their unique take. I tend to follow other blog personalities closely like Meg Marco on Consumerist and William Saletan on Slate.
As always - we love you JOSH!
April 14, 2008 1:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Rich -- Really kind of you to say, and I appreciate it. As for bios. Everyone's bio is on the front page masthead, which is down under the news headlines. But I would like to find ways to get everybody's identity out there a little more as distinct personalities. I think it's good for tpm and it's good for them.
April 14, 2008 2:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
And EXCELLENT for Hillary! to coin a phrase.
April 15, 2008 4:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
Josh is in Pennsylvania campaigning for Hillary, Trying to save the Democrats last chance to win the Presidency in 2008.
Way to go Josh!!!
April 14, 2008 1:59 PM | Reply | Permalink