Media critics hear this all the time, since by instinct and disposition, we are expected to be critical, to pick at the flaws, scabs and shortcomings of what passes for news and media programming. If you are too positive, you get criticized for being soft-headed or falling for hype. It maybe the desire to avoid being labeled as mushy or biased that leads far too many of my colleagues to flip too far the other way, into bunkers of arrogance where skepticism and cynicism become the only virtues. The media magazine Brill's Content calls skepticism a virtue in its advertising. It's the same when it comes to expressing enthusiasm for someone's work.
Journalists can be among the bitchiest people on earth, putting each other down with regularity.
Some of our best writers are famous for the way they turn their pens into scalpels, lacerating enemies but rarely praising friends. Yet some situations compel discussion. While not everyone who reads this will know the work of the person I'm writing about, the challenges she's facing and the issues she's raised have a much broader resonance in the media world. Amy is not a close friend. In fact, I have found her a hard person to schmooze with over the years.