The New York Times published an April 6, 2008 article talking about recent blogger deaths and illnesses, using the phrase digital-era sweatshop:
Two weeks ago in North Lauderdale, Fla., funeral services were held for Russell Shaw, a prolific blogger on technology subjects who died at 60 of a heart attack. In December, another tech blogger, Marc Orchant, died at 50 of a massive coronary. A third, Om Malik, 41, survived a heart attack in December.
Other bloggers complain of weight loss or gain, sleep disorders, exhaustion and other maladies born of the nonstop strain of producing for a news and information cycle that is as always-on as the Internet.
This is certainly sad news, but at the same time, I wonder how many stock brokers, journalists, editors, and other professionals have died, had heart attacks, etc. in the same timeframe. How many blue collar workers? How many service workers?
How many people starved to death in this world during this same time period? How many died of disease? Of violence? From accidents?
Any death is a tragedy.
They’re just trying to make up the next bogeyman to scare us.
Also, why are all coronaries “massive”? Can we write without clichés, huh, NYT?
@Remarkablogger – either that or they know that a blogger article will draw attention from the blogosphere, at Mathew Ingram pointed out in his blog today.
while working for my dad as a toolmaker (yes i am an ex-blue collar, and as such have much respect for that industry), i read this article about a man who, two weeks before retirement, got pulled into a lathe. they literally picked up his pieces after the accident. why do they not report on such issues? that story i read is but one i’m mentioning. read of and heard plenty others.
new york times is simply capitalising on a booming industry.
@Jansie – important observations there