Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[moonsun]

1.(context:As far as trend stories go, this should have been an easy one.)

What does "trend stories" mean? And does "as far as ... go" equal to "as far as ... is concerned"?

2.(context: Part of the problem is institutional. The issue was written entirely by regular Time staffers and contributors who seem to have great difficulty understanding this strange new media man--especially the part about his hatred of condescension.) coming from http://www.opinionjournal.com/federation/feature/?id=110009403

Does "this strange new media man" refer to YouTube?
And What does "his hatred of condescension" refer to?

[bud]

1. A trend story is a story about trends - in this case it's about YouTube, and technology in general, and how they affect our lives. YouTube is a trend because it is so popular today, yet it didn't even exist a little more than a year ago.

Yes, you could rewrite the sentence with, "As far as trend stories are concerned..."

2. I think "strange new media man" refers to the ways the average person's media habits have changed. That's especially true for younger people. Ten years ago, the average person got their news from newspapers and TV. The internet is the main source of news for many people today, and newspapers are struggling to remain viable.

His hatred of condescension - "His" is referring to "this strange mew media man." The article states, "It [the Time article] claims to celebrate You, the reader, the YouTuber, the amateur, the activist. Editor Stengel goes so far as to compare You to Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine. So then what does Time choose to highlight as examples of greatness in action?"

Then it cites several goofy examples of "our" reporting. Then comes what you have quoted. So the quote is saying that Time is condescending to us. They are saying that we are great, and supports that claim with examples of our silliness. Yet the new media man hates being condescended to.