Information AboutFisking |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT FISKING | |
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The term Fisking, or '''to Fisk''', is a Blogosphere term describing ruthlessly detailed point-by-point criticism that highlights errors, disputes the analysis of presented facts, or highlights other problems in a statement, article, or essay. The Jargon File defines the term as: "A point-by-point refutation of a blog entry or (especially) news story. A really stylish fisking is witty, logical, sarcastic and ruthlessly factual; flaming or handwaving is considered poor form. Named after Robert Fisk, a British journalist who was a frequent (and deserving) early target of such treatment." {Link without Title} Fisking was coined by detractors of British journalist or Sullivan's Weblog , Fisk's reporting style - mixing fact with analysis and criticism of Western government policy - has made him a figure of some controversy. Sullivan was responding to a dispatch by Fisk from Pakistan describing his savage beating at the hands of Afghan refugees: "They started by shaking hands. We said "Salaam aleikum" – peace be upon you – then the first pebbles flew past my face. A small boy tried to grab my bag. Then another. Then someone punched me in the back. Then young men broke my glasses, began smashing stones into my face and head. I couldn't see for the blood pouring down my forehead and swamping my eyes. And even then, I understood. I couldn't blame them for what they were doing. In fact, if I were the Afghan refugees of Kila Abdullah, close to the Afghan-Pakistan border, I would have done just the same to Robert Fisk. Or any other Westerner I could find." {Link without Title} He related their anger to Westerner activities in the area, like arming them during the Soviet war in Afghanistan, leaving after the war, ignoring pleas for support during the civil war that followed, then bombing civilians during the War on Terror. {Link without Title} Sullivan presented three arguments in response to Fisk's piece. Firstly, that Fisk's piece was a "a classic piece of leftist pathology". Secondly, disregarding the notion put forth by Fisk that Westerner activity in the region as a potential factor behind refugee anger, Sullivan argued that Racism was the reason and identified Fisk as Racist . Lastly, he dismissed the idea that the effects of Westerner activity in the region constituted "extenuating circumstances", calling Fisk's sympathy for refugee anger an "a priori moral absolution". However in the blogosphere, anyone who fisks someone else can, in turn, be "counter-fisked" by others. {Link without Title} COMPARISONS AND DISTINCTIONS Fisking can be compared to the Usenet style of responding to an argument's specific points by quoting lines prefixed with the ">" character. The difference is that with a Usenet line-by-line discussion, a large number of tangential arguments often develop while the main point of the original article and original response gets lost. Fisking is different from Flaming , with which it is sometimes confused. Fisking is not merely verbal abuse, although it may contain a substantial amount of derision, scorn or even profanity. Fisking is similar to the Line-by-line method in Policy Debate , where one debater addresses each point sequentially, dealing with each piece of an argument in turn, as opposed to addressing the entire thesis of his or her opponent. NOTES
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