New York Times Travel: Too Hip for its Own Good?
Travel Blog • Jim Benning • 02.24.05 | 12:40 AM ET
Thomas Swick thinks so. In his latest column, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel Travel editor writes that the newest incarnation of the Times Travel section, which was redesigned several months ago, puts a premium on hip attitude at the expense of insightful coverage. That, he writes, “is disheartening to people who want to learn about the world.” He continues: “[T]he ideal of hip is inimical to the idea of travel. The trendy are conformist, superficial, hostile to outsiders; travelers are, by avocation, independent, philosophical, curious about others. Travel is a flight beyond borders, formulas, preconceived notions. Hip is a landlocked country with a strict visa policy and a small population of fashionable peasants.” Swick has been critical of travel writing in the Times and other U.S. papers in the past. A couple of years ago, he wrote a terrific essay on the topic for the Columbia Journalism Review. Finally, regarding the redesigned Travel section, an update: We noted when the new look debuted that editors failed to include a travel essay, which had been a long-running feature. We hoped they hadn’t ditched the essay for good. We’re happy to report that Sunday’s Travel section did, in fact, feature an essay. Perhaps travel essays are hip again?
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Jim Benning is the editor and co-founder of World Hum.
