By Dan Kennedy • The press, politics, technology, culture and other passions

Tag: Samuel Johnson

If you’re a regular Media Nation reader, I hope you’ll become a monthly supporter

Statue of Samuel Johnson in Lichfield Market Square. Photo (cc) 2009 by Elliott Brown.

If you value a writer’s work enough to read it regularly, then you should be willing to pay a small fee to support that work. That’s why I set up a Patreon account a few years ago. Media Nation will always be free and open to everyone. But I hope that those who do more than drop in here occasionally will decide that it’s worth paying $5 a month to keep it going.

As Samuel Johnson once said: “No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money.”

As an incentive for you to sign up, I’m going to resume the supporters-only newsletter that I was writing for a while. It will be a modest affair — a photo, a song of the week and a round-up of the week’s posts. That last is especially valuable for many readers who may not be able to keep up with the daily posts. Look for it in your inbox on Thursdays or Fridays, starting this week.

And just to avoid a bit of confusion, my Patreon is separate and apart from subscribing to free emails that you receive every time I post something new. If you’re not getting those emails and would like to, just scroll down the right-hand rail of the Media Nation website until you see “Subscribe to Media Nation via Email.”

In order to become a supporter for just $5 a month, please click here.

Why you should become a member of Media Nation

Samuel Johnson

More than two centuries ago, Samuel Johnson explained why you should become a member of Media Nation: “No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money.”

Nearly a year ago I added a membership option to Media Nation. Partly it was an experiment. Partly it was a chance to offer members something different — a weekly newsletter with exclusive early content, a round-up of the week’s posts, photography and a song of the week. Mainly, though, it seemed to me that I was cranking out a lot of stuff here and that it was only fair that I get paid for it.

So far, I’d pronounce the experiment a success. But I’d like it to be an even bigger success. If you’re a Media Nation reader — and you must be since you’re reading this — I hope you’ll consider becoming a member for just $5 a month. All you need to do is click here.

Thank you.

Of scoundrels and patriotism

Just yesterday Media Nation noted, in a link, that the quote “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel” should be attributed to Samuel Johnson. Today the Weekly Dig gives the credit to H.L. Mencken.

What gives? Here’s what. According to Bartleby.com, Mencken appended Johnson’s dictum with this: “But there is something even worse: it is the first, last, and middle range of fools.”

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