Tag: Jimmy Breslin

The late, great Jimmy Breslin was the embodiment of a classic New York newspaper columnist. He chronicled the gritty underbelly of the city, the backroom deals, and the voices of the overlooked. With his uncompromising style and passion for giving voice to the ordinary men and women of the city, Breslin shined a light on the harsh realities and human stories that those in power often overlooked or tried to brush aside.

Breslin’s columns were marked by his streetwise writing, caustic wit, and deep empathy for the working class. He had a masterful way of cutting through the spin and official narratives to excavate the truth. Whether he was covering brutal crimes, civic upheaval, or clashing with the city’s elite, Breslin’s journalism emanated from spending hours walking the streets, talking to people, and seeing New York through their eyes. Breslin wasn’t an outsider looking in. He understood the city’s soul.

While the technology beat may seem worlds apart from the gritty NYC stories that Breslin staked his career on, we are fortunate to have our own modern-day commentator holding the tech industry’s feet to the fire: the inimitable Kara Swisher.

Like Breslin, Swisher has been entrenched in the tech world since its early days. She knows the players, the rivalries, and the unspoken rules, allowing her to cut through the PR spin. She has cultivated a signature voice – part insightful analyst, part merciless interrogator that the most powerful figures in tech have learned to respect and, sometimes, fear. Her refusal to cozy up to the wealthy and influential is reminiscent of Breslin playing hardball with Tammany Hall bosses and corrupt officials.

Both writers leaven their seriousness with a healthy dose of humor. Breslin’s sardonic wit made his columns even more impactful. Swisher’s sharp barbs and clever turns of phrase keep readers engaged and entertained. Both are very enjoyable to read.

While many in the tech press stay firmly situated in the industry’s vortex of product launches and funding rounds, Swisher is unafraid to step out of the echo chamber. She understands that tech is not just about the latest iPhone or who gets funded, but about the human consequences – both wondrous and troubling – of the technologies reshaping our world.

Swisher’s columns and interviews, whether deconstructing a social media giant’s PR missteps or grilling a tech luminary, are filled with granular insights and skeptical questioning. There is little deference shown to reputations or famous names. Like Breslin’s tenacious reporting, her approach exposes uncomfortable truths that those in power often would prefer remain hidden. Breslin’s New York was a physical landscape, while Swisher navigates the virtual one. But they share a core mission: to shed light on the forces shaping our world, and to give voice to those who might otherwise be unheard.

Crucially, both journalists share a profound sense of empathy that fuels their crusades against injustice and the abuse of power. Swisher’s fierce advocacy for technology workers, consumers, and other often overlooked stakeholders echoes Breslin’s signature move of giving voice to the voiceless. Her commentary is a clarion call for accountability in an industry intoxicated by its own lofty self-perceptions.

While the subjects of their writing were completely different, Jimmy Breslin and Kara Swisher are united in their roles as civic guardians – unwilling to be cowed, determined to upset institutional hypocrisy, and most importantly, upholding the vital responsibility of the free press. In an age of all too often obfuscation and empty corporate platitudes, we are fortunate to have Swisher carrying Breslin’s torch.

This post was stimulated by attending a Library of America webinar earlier this week on the publication of a new volume collecting Breslin’s work: Jimmy Breslin – Essential Writings. The webinar titled Deadline Artist: The Genius of Jimmy Breslin included the editor of this new volume, New York Times writer Dan Barry along with Mike Barnicle and Mike Lucpica – all of whom knew Breslin well. It was wonderful hearing some of their stories about Breslin, his writing and his escapades.

During the webinar, these writers pointed to an article of Breslin’s which they say has become very well known and is taught in journalism schools around the country: “The Gravedigger”. In this essay, taking place on the day of the funeral of John Fitzgerald Kenney at Arlington National Cemetery, Breslin focuses on Clifton Pollard who dug JFK’s grave.

Just prior to this essay, Breslin’s wrote “A Death in Emergency Room One” which takes us inside the emergency room at Dallas’ Parkland Hospital with the physicians attempting to save the president’s life. Both of these essays are quite remarkable to read now some sixty years later. They really illustrate Breslin at his contemplative best.

I just finished reading Burn Book: A Tech Love Story, Kara Swisher’s great new memoir about her life and times as a tech journalist – and so much more. The videos from her book tour are also a delight to watch: especially this one held at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco with Kara in conversation with Reid Hoffman. Another is this one sponsored by the Washington, DC bookstore Politics and Prose that was moderated by Laurene Powell Jobs.