Commentary

An open letter to the author of the article titled ‘Where have all the manly journalists gone?’

Ernest Hemingway, a manly journalist.

Dear Mark Judge,

What’s up, man? I just read your recent article called “Where have all the manly journalists gone?’’ and I wanted to answer your question.

It seems like you’re equating “manly’’ journalism with being daring and brave, with investigating a topic fully and deeply, and with taking risks in order to tell the truth. Did I get that right?

If so, here’s a list of 20 journalists who are doing just that:

1. Christianne Amanpour

2. Robin Roberts

3. Laura Poitras

4. Lynsey Addario

5. Sacha Pfeiffer

6. Sarah Ganim

7. Andrea Elliott

8. Barbara Ehrenreich

9. Kathryn Schulz

10. Sarah Maslin Nir

11. Maureen Dowd

12. Lane Degregory

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13. Meghan Daum

14. Cornelia Grumman

15. Diane Sawyer

16. Diane McWhorter

17. Katie Couric

18. Gail Collins

19. Dana Priest

20. Maria Cramer

And that’s merely dipping our toes in the water.

If not, and if you meant “manly’’ in the sense of doing “a job of grit and hard effort, like boxing,’’ or experiencing “a James Bond-like liaison with a lady or two,’’ or being “a hard-drinking oyster pirate and world traveler,’’ as your article suggests, then we’re all better off that you can’t find any left.

Sincerely,

A “manly’’ journalist who, perhaps stupidly, took the bait and wrote a response to an article that really didn’t deserve to be taken seriously enough to warrant one.

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