Tagging Writers for the Wrong Reasons

The good and bad about tagging people in titles. It depends on your intent: to applaud the person or gain subscribers. I think the first category is the way of serious writers.

I saw Red when I read this he/she post this morning, and here’s my response. When someone on Substack attacks my favorite Professor Heather Cox Richardson, it usually means they’re trying to get new subscribers by using her well-known name and image to boost their post. That’s so wrong, but I digress.

Pray for All Texas Flooding Victims

I think the writer of the article is emotionally sincere about Texas’s tragedy as we should all be. I believe he reads Heather which gives him a couple of brownie points. However his accusation that she did not pour emotion into her historical and political account is unwarranted. Here’s what I replied, and I’m sure I’ll get a put-down response later:

“The tragedy is being covered wall to wall with empathy on some news media and others as an opportunity for ratings. That’s the America Trump uses to blame it all on anyone not himself. With regard to Heather Cox Richardson, her job is not to be a reporter—historians provide the facts and the political environment which often slants what’s happening. My first thought is that we all feel Texas’s pain, but my second thought is frankly you seem jealous of Heather’s readership because you mentioned the top stackers. Well, if you’re grieving as you should be, you should feel regretful you’re slandering a good, caring, responsible historian like any TrumpFan would do. I’m sorry but your title is offensive and a total turn off. You’re using a person’s celebrity to gain readers.”

Too harsh? Check out the profile, read the article below if you dare, and feel free to comment anywhere you like. I do not want to give this his/her substack oxygen or add to his/her readership. I include it as a record of bad substacking procedures.

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON SHAME ON YOU: YOU CHOSE POLITICS OVER GRIEVING FAMILIES

Thank you all, dear subscribers, for allowing me to vent. Any lover of HCR is a friend of mine. Like I said jealous readers of HCR still read her, but perhaps they don’t understand the point of Letters by a brilliant historian fighting for democracy every day of her life since Trump came on the scene.

p.s. 🐶💕⭐️

Happy First Birthday to Winnie🐶 She’s getting ice cream later! 🍦