
David Carr Dies at 58 - sethbannon
http://nytimes.com/2015/02/13/business/media/david-carr-media-equation-columnist-for-the-times-is-dead-at-58.html
======
sethbannon
Earlier today Carr moderated a panel with Laura Poitras, Glenn Greenwald, and
Edward ‪Snowden‬ that's worth a watch: [http://timestalks.com/laura-poitras-
glenn-greenwald-edward-s...](http://timestalks.com/laura-poitras-glenn-
greenwald-edward-snowden.html)

~~~
username3
Coincidence?

~~~
pdabbadabba
Well, unless you can think of a reason why someone would want to kill David
Carr for interviewing Snowden, Greenwald, and Poitras, but _not_ be motivated
(or not able) to kill Snowden, Greenwald, or Poitras themselves, the answer is
probably 'yes.'

~~~
A_COMPUTER
I don't seriously think that Carr was assassinated, but Andrei Sakharov
(Soviet scientist, human rights activist) believed that the KGB killed people
near him because he personally was too high-profile to be killed without
international outrage.

------
noart
David Carr was one of the english language's finest cultural critics. His
recent (last?) piece on Brian Williams & Jon Stewart was utterly piercing:
[http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/12/business/media/brian-
willi...](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/12/business/media/brian-williamss-
and-jon-stewarts-common-ground.html?smid=tw-share)

~~~
mattlutze
I wonder sometimes if the sort of clarity and vinegar with which this man
writes, is only borne from the kinds of past struggle and experience he and
many artists seem to share.

~~~
atonse
After watching "Page One" where you learn about his past, I noticed he seems
to have a very "I don't give a crap what people think" attitude, which is a
great quality for a journalist.

------
calcsam
A long piece; reporting on his past life as a junkie:
[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/20/magazine/20Carr-t.html?pag...](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/20/magazine/20Carr-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0)

------
bhaumik
His Reddit AMA reads like an insightful glimpse into his personality, wisdom,
and sense of humor.

[http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/16k598/iama_columnist_...](http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/16k598/iama_columnist_and_reporter_on_media_and_culture).

~~~
wozniacki
Does anyone - anyone at all, even at the fringes, even at the international
fringes, anyone English, Irish, Scottish or anyone even remotely related to
the English Isles - resemble David Carr at all, even in the slightest at all?

To me, Paul Carr, and most other Carrs resemble a striking similarity to him.

Its uncanny, like any ever is. Its spellbinding.

It really is. Ask me how. Please do.

~~~
wozniacki
Well, that's an unfortunate turn of events. Isn't it?

~~~
coldpie
I didn't downvote you, but I have no idea what your comment was supposed to
mean. Sorry.

------
unicornporn
Visting his Twitter feed is so strange... It gives me the feeling that in a
way he's still here. :(
[https://twitter.com/carr2n](https://twitter.com/carr2n)

10h ago carr2n retweeted: Watch @citizenfour @TimesTalks w/ @ggreenwald, Laura
Poitras, Ed Snowden & @carr2n. Livestream starts in 15 minutes:
[http://timestalks.com/laura-poitras-glenn-greenwald-
edward-s...](http://timestalks.com/laura-poitras-glenn-greenwald-edward-
snowden.html)

------
codeaken
I first heard of David Carr in the documentary about New York Times called
Page One [1]. David Carr is extensively covered in it and you, amongst other
things, learn of his troubled past.

[1]
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1787777/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1787777/)

~~~
scott_s
I highly recommend that documentary to anyone with any interest in journalism.

------
krebby
One of the best scenes from Page One:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLmkec_4Rfo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLmkec_4Rfo)

Carr talks to the Vice guys about their deal with CNN: "Just because you put
on a fucking safari helmet and looked at some poop, doesn't give you the right
to insult what we do."

------
flippyhead
Such a bummer. I really liked David Carr. He's a great journalist and his
personal story is incredible.

------
3am
Tom Levenson posted a very nice tribute to him here: [http://www.balloon-
juice.com/2015/02/13/on-david-carr/](http://www.balloon-
juice.com/2015/02/13/on-david-carr/)

------
mitkok
It looks like Hacker News is becoming NY Times proxy.

------
wozniacki
Since there is a feverishly down-voting activity in this particular grade, let
us all ask what it is that you fledgling participants who wish to have their
opinions heard, have to say.

Please do so. Downvoting isn't going to the swing the pendulum to the other
extreme.

Trust me on this. I've been on here long enough.

Please explicate your opinion and I shall make happen it, if I shall. Thank
you.

~~~
dang
Please don't break the HN guidelines by complaining about downvoting.

Please don't post comments like this as off-topic replies to the top comment.
That's an abuse of the commenting system. (We've detached this one.)

------
CmonDev
Who was the dude? I would mention in the title. Would save me those wasted few
minutes.

------
72deluxe
I'm sorry but who is he? Could someone update the title to be more
informative?

~~~
maxerickson
Here's the first paragraph of the link:

 _David Carr, a writer who wriggled away from the demon of drug addiction to
become an unlikely name-brand media columnist at The New York Times, and the
star of a documentary about the newspaper, died on Thursday in Manhattan. He
was 58._

If you didn't already know his work, I can't see why you would care to know
any more than that. I've responded to your comment, but really, I'm responding
to the whole category of comments that say "Why should I care about this.".
Moreover, if those comments aren't interested enough to spend a couple minutes
looking into it themselves, how interested are they actually going to be in
any responses?

~~~
mathgeek
I believe the obvious point here is that when there are two or more semi- to
relatively famous people who share the same name, it's generally better to put
which one you're referring to in the title.

If it's not obvious who the other famous David Carr is, consider for a second
that to someone who doesn't read the Times, it's the same situation. To me,
there is an obvious age difference, which makes the title alright in the end.

~~~
maxerickson
I don't really know either one. I just can't reconcile the "it's important to
me to know this" with the "I didn't read the first paragraph."

~~~
mathgeek
It really depends on how you consume your headlines. "David Carr dead at 58"
is, in my opinion, less informative that "David Carr, acclaimed NY Times
journalist, dead at 58."

~~~
72deluxe
Thanks to maxerickson for expanding on the article that I obviously didn't
read.

I would strongly agree with mathgeek here though - it's best to put the
relevant details in the title to enable me to see if I should even read the
article or the comments, and to edge on the side of safety that not everyone
here is in the same country, age bracket or work/social circles as you. I've
never read the NY Times. I'm not in America.

I mean Steve Strange died today too - if I just posted a headline stating
"Steve Strange has died" I would get a barrage of comments asking - "who is
he? why is this relevant to me?".

~~~
maxerickson
I wasn't arguing against informative headlines.

I was labeling those comments as pointless. They frustrate me a little bit
(because of what I said above about reconciling the supposed interest behind
the question with the paucity of (misdirected!) effort).

Also, such comments can _always_ be replaced with "I didn't know who David
Carr was. He was ...".

~~~
72deluxe
You're right - I should have read it and stated who this person was in the
comment, in order to benefit others.

But mine was more of a protest at the uninformative headline.

~~~
maxerickson
I wonder if my complaining will head off the 8 comments it would take to get
back to zero (so to speak).

I suppose the thing to do is create a culture here of saying "If you are going
to complain that the headline is uninformative, please also provide the
information you think it is missing."

~~~
72deluxe
Or a culture of informative headlines!

I have suffered downvotes for asking a question, weirdly.

------
sgustard
Help out his family by buying his excellent memoir.

[http://www.amazon.com/Night-Gun-reporter-investigates-
darkes...](http://www.amazon.com/Night-Gun-reporter-investigates-darkest-
ebook/dp/B001DXNZ9Q)

~~~
edvinbesic
Don't get me wrong, I don't mind helping out, but with the risk of downvoting,
why does a prominent journalist family in NYC need help?

Honestly, not trying to be snarky, truly wondering.

~~~
ff10
His wife is working as an international operations manager for Shake Shack. I
don't think they rely on handouts. I suggest donating to addiction treatment
centers.

