"In journalistic terms, syndication is equivalent to ascending to heaven on a pillar of cloud"
About this Quote
Syndication, Skow implies, is journalism's version of sainthood: a career milestone wrapped in incense and self-congratulation. The line lands because it takes an industry mechanic - the resale of a column - and inflates it into a religious spectacle. "Ascending to heaven" isn't just success; it's absolution, permanence, the fantasy that your work has escaped the daily churn of newsprint and deadline panic. The "pillar of cloud" is a sly detail: biblical grandeur, yes, but also something vaporous. Glory that looks solid from below but is literally made of air.
Skow is needling the professional vanity baked into media culture, especially in eras when gatekeepers mattered and distribution equaled legitimacy. To be syndicated wasn't merely to reach more readers; it was to be endorsed by a network of editors, to become a brand with predictable output, a voice standardized enough to travel. That portability is the subtext. Heaven, after all, is the ultimate mass audience.
The joke carries a bite of skepticism about what gets rewarded. Syndication often favors columnists who can be broadly palatable, ideologically legible, reliably quotable - not necessarily the most daring reporters. Skow's metaphor suggests an awkward trade: you rise, but you also detach from the messy ground where journalism's real work happens. It's a clean, luminous exit from complexity, powered by a cloud: the soft machinery of prestige, distribution, and the industry's hunger to anoint its own.
Skow is needling the professional vanity baked into media culture, especially in eras when gatekeepers mattered and distribution equaled legitimacy. To be syndicated wasn't merely to reach more readers; it was to be endorsed by a network of editors, to become a brand with predictable output, a voice standardized enough to travel. That portability is the subtext. Heaven, after all, is the ultimate mass audience.
The joke carries a bite of skepticism about what gets rewarded. Syndication often favors columnists who can be broadly palatable, ideologically legible, reliably quotable - not necessarily the most daring reporters. Skow's metaphor suggests an awkward trade: you rise, but you also detach from the messy ground where journalism's real work happens. It's a clean, luminous exit from complexity, powered by a cloud: the soft machinery of prestige, distribution, and the industry's hunger to anoint its own.
Quote Details
| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
|---|
More Quotes by John
Add to List
