Hungry for something different and thought-provoking on the Web? Then belly up to the information snack bar. In its first edition, the new and newsy online journal Feed brims with ambitious ideas, offering a refreshing mix of enthusiasm and skepticism toward technology.
To the credit of creators Steven Johnson and Stefanie Syman, Feed's discussions and articles (known here as "objects") are written by a heavyweight collection of writers whose work has appeared in such publications as the New Republic, The New Yorker, Harper's, and The Wall Street Journal. In certain departments, the all-star team sparkles with feisty media critiques and great publishing dish. At other times, however, too much East Coast intelligentsia gray matter can make for a pretty stuffy environment.
It's easy to feel skeptical about a site that hits you with the word "paradigm" three times before you've wandered in too deep. "On some sites you can download hippy-dippy fractals to your heart's content," the editors sniff. Too bad there's no one here to protect you when the content veers to élitist snobbery.
A large portion of the first edition is devoted to Newt Gingrich, painted as the embodiment of What's Wrong with America. And face it, by now Robert Mapplethorpe and Murphy Brown have been flogged just as much by the left as they ever were by the right.
The premise of Feed - presenting real intelligence and opinion "that goes beyond Net gossip or online promotions" - is admirable. And despite initial technical bugs (weird line-wrapping, general pokiness), there are loads of sounds and images, the links are clever, and the format is easy to navigate. New articles are added one at a time, so issues metamorphose little by little.
Ultimately, though, it's not the form but the content that makes a site interesting, and facile Newt-bashing is just as tiresome as facile NEA-bashing. Feed is best when it's giving you something new - indie pop from New Zealand, for instance, or an ongoing salon-like discussion group about reading online.
The promise of deeper content - of pushing less-obvious hot buttons - is here. A place called Feed should offer you delectable morsels of different varieties, not pour too much of one thing down your throat.
Feed: www.emedia.net/feed/, e-mail feed@emedia.net.
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