I got you, babe
How strange that the cover article on the future of the Daily Progress [“What do Media General’s financial woes mean for The Daily Progress?” July 7] made no mention of how out of touch that paper is with the majority of the public, and potential readers.
In a region that massively backs Democrats, the Progress blindly endorses Republicans. In an area where the New York Times and Washington Post sell large numbers of daily papers, the Progress’ line-up of columnists leans from the merely right-wing (George Will) to the bizarre in Thomas Sowell.
If local news is increasingly light, and editorial substance consistently right, it is no wonder the Progress is struggling. This is a literate town and there will be a market for a newspaper that challenges its readers. I’ll miss the Progress, but we’ll always have C-VILLE (won’t we?).
Al Weed
Lovingston
And now, a word from "lilith"
When the cops arrive to break up a party, people typically give each other high-fives and get the hell out of there before it’s their ass. It’s generous of some long-time party-goers at cVillain.com to offer to help Kyle Redinger keep it alive [Read This First, July 7]. But go home.
Before “villains” were ever 20 minutes late to meet a friend for dinner because they were coming up with a perfect comeback to @43, I was 20 minutes late. I was lilith and I helped Kyle create cVillain.com in April 2007, and I stayed until March 2008. I then wrote for The Hook as a restaurant critic from September 2008 to April 2009, an exciting opportunity that would not have come about without cVillain. I live in New York City now, and I thank Kyle for inviting me to keep cVillain.com going. If I lived in Charlottesville, I would consider taking it on and doing something different.
I think the name “cVillain” discredited a lot of the good Kyle and I were trying to do, and that he continued to do with a slew of fresh talent. Had the site been situated elsewhere, the snark and snide would be written off as no more damaging than what you’d get on any other local site, and might even be viewed as insightful. Former Gawker editor and entrepreneur Lockhart Steele now runs Curbed, Eater, and Racked, a successful trio of aggregating blogs covering New York real estate, food, and fashion, respectively. I doubt people would respond as well to domain names Foreclosure, Deathwatch, and Discontinued. But who am I to say?
I now do something I never did when I was writing as lilith—I read and comment on a lot of blogs, and I do it all under my own name. I also post at katemalay.com. I’ve been personally thanked for my blog comments by Robert Sietsema and Sarah DiGregorio, only my favorite food writers. Typing in an offensive or dismissive comment under my real, full, Google-able name is actually too hard for me to do, and I encourage anyone who thinks they’ve got a pair (and a decent future ahead of them) to try it. There is one New York hot-spot that I doubt would book me with its new e-mail only reservation policy (that allows for Googling), based on a mostly complimentary but generally underwhelmed review I posted to my blog, but I sat on the review draft for several days before deciding it was fair, and I’m not going to patronize it—in both senses of the word—by showing up at this business again.
Restaurants don’t generally like critics, whether it’s the teen with the notepad or the Brunz himself—if you make it known you’re reviewing, or if you don’t know who that is, stop now—but real critics earn the respect of restaurants, and readers.
Credibility has not been cVillain’s problem. Thor, in his various incarnations, and other regular contributors have occasionally been the first to publish big local stories that they identified or that were submitted by anonymous readers. There were also tips that weren’t published because facts were dubious. From cVillain’s infancy, Kyle and I had access to people with information, and I’m appreciative, on reflection, that they felt we had the integrity to handle it.
More than for its credibility, I think cVillain has been valued by its community for being entertaining. Lunch breaks were no longer the only solace one could find from the monotony of a workday, though conversation was perhaps a bit more interesting. People and businesses enjoyed brief infamy, welcome or not, because of publicity from the site. Actual friendships, even romances, developed and moved offline. Writers were clever, if not kind.
Not everyone can pull clever out of their ass, though, so increasingly, inside jokes, running jokes, and dirty jokes took over the comment threads that followed attempts at substantive posts. (See: piercings poll.) Much of the humor came at the expense of others, or of print media outlets/competing bloggers, or of wet towels. So?
So there is little substance left to save. It’s like a $20 bill that goes through a full load of laundry. If things had been gentler, it could have been worth something. Charlottesville was a vulnerable community that turned into an unwilling market, and I’m glad the city stood up for itself. C-VILLE has a lot to do with that, and I hope any members of the community that have ever shuddered at hearing the name “cVillain” find an opportunity to thank the publication.
Kyle and his team at Spicy Bear have devoted thousands of unpaid hours to the site, and the party was awesome…until it wasn’t. Thank your hosts, sober up, and go get some sunshine. There will be another party.
Kate Malay
New York City