That’s probably what the editor of the Australian newspaper, The Age‘s travel section told Carolyn Webb to do when she wrote her destination piece on Bali three days ago. As the title of her article, Bali: Why Bother? suggests, she wasn’t impressed, and she diligently wrote why.
She probably didn’t realise what a whirlwind she was unleashing. The counter says that the comments thread was closed to further comments at 1001!
Dip anywhere into the thread and you find the full range of reactions, from cheering supportive to dismayed, angry, and downright rabid.
Why such a storm? Well it’s the race issue. Most see it as a nasty piece of naive racism, while others welcome what they see as a rare breath of fresh air and honesty in a branch of journalism that is normally knee-deep in gushing advertorial.
Helen Razor, in her review of the furore, A Travel Snapshot We Deserve, on ABC’s The Drum‘s blog, comes to the uncomfortable conclusion that readers need to be more discerning…
“I encourage no-one to excuse this work. I would, however, suggest packing a more critical lens when reading of cut-price luxe in developing nations. If we don’t change our focus, we’ll continue to get the travel snapshots we deserve.
Where do you stand?
Image: Pixelplacebo
Post Revisions:
- 13 December, 2011 @ 8:12 [Current Revision] by Alastair McKenzie
- 28 October, 2011 @ 16:15 by John O'Nolan
I understand the journalist: I wrote a post about Barcelona and the fact that, compared with other cities, I didn’t like it and the 90% of the people who read my post or my tweets replied that I was crazy, that it’s awesome and so on… Sincerely, I appreciate those people who are so brave to write and say what they really think (with the risk of not being invited to try hotels, restaurants, places anymore)!
I enjoyed Ms. Webb’s article. And it’s hardly unprecedented: In THE HAPPY ISLES OF OCEANIA, Paul Theroux was honest in describing the negative side of certain tropical paradises, and his reputation has survived:
http://denisdutton.com/theroux_review.htm
“This tout smiled and asked if I wanted “transport”. I smiled and explained very politely that, in Australia, if a woman gets on a motorbike with a stranger, that is called prostitution.
“He looked as though I’d just told him the sun was a balloon. I don’t think he honestly had a clue what I was on about.”
How is this woman a travel writer?!
I too tell it like it is with regards to Prague. My site wouldn’t be a useful resource for tourists if I did otherwise. Case in point my bashing of the “oh so romantic!” Prague Christmas Markets which in fact are quite sad and unintresting:
http://cometoprague.com/tips/christmas-markets-in-prague
Just skin read this article because it bored me so much… I’m amazed that there is an article about this article… yawn
This isn’t softcore porn Paul, stop skin reading it!
Come on, typing on this HTC! its not as easy as your iPhone john!
What you mean that thing had enough charge to let you reply
Maybe i’ll write “HTC: Why bother?” ?
I didn’t like it and didn’t agree with it, but it’s not the worst travel article I’ve ever read. What bothers me, beyond the obvious lack of interest in the Balinese, is that, intentionally or not, it has become a piece of flame bait. Given the number of comments and links it’s garnered, I can imagine the editorial team at The Age rubbing their hands and thinking “we must do more like that.” Here are a few of my suggestions:
Sydney: Why Bother? Beyond the pretty harbour, it’s actually quite dull.
London: Why Bother? It’s rude, dirty, ridiculously expensive, and those lovely historic buildings you came to see will probably be shrouded in scaffolding and/or impossible to get to for road works
New York: Why Bother? Yes, it has amazing architecture, hotels and restaurants, but a lot of its population is living in poverty. Wise up people.
The Caribbean: Why Bother? The service is terrible. Stay at home and get a spray tan.
Indeed, the list is endless. Everyone has somewhere they hate or think is overrated. None of the above are my personal opinion, but all could be legitimately written, and personal opinion is not important for flame bait. What’s important are the clicks and links. Elicit controversy and they’ll come. I heard that from the mouth of an editor.
What I learnt, through twitter and Facebook, is that, for many people, Webb’s article is the worst travel article they’ve read this week/month/year/ever (Emma Kennedy’s ski article in The Guardian was a strong contender). And, yes, I fell for it and clicked through, only to ask myself why I’d bothered. I learnt nothing, and felt a bit cheap. That’s flame bait at work. But I have no idea what travel article people consider the best they’ve read this week/month/year/ever.
For what it’s worth, my read of the month was Sy Montgomery’s brilliant article in Orion Magazine, about a trip to New Hampshire to discover what goes on in the mind of an octopus. I learnt a lot and didn’t feel cheap at all. But I doubt it got anything like as many clicks and links as Webb did.
Carolyn Webb – why bother? Bit of a boring article, alright we get it, you got hassled by touts.
“This tout smiled and asked if I wanted “transport”. I smiled and explained very politely that, in Australia, if a woman gets on a motorbike with a stranger, that is called prostitution.”
This bit is just stupid.