George Will blames the internet for controversy over column

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last updated 8 January 2015

Appearing on C-SPAN's Q & A Thursday, George Will once again defended his controversial column about sexual assault on college campuses, this time by theorizing on why the controversy was so intense:

"Today, for some reason — and I've got some theories about it — indignation is the default position of certain people in civic discourse. They go from a standing start to fury in about 30 seconds. I think it has something to do with the internet... it erased the barriers of entry to public discourse — that's a good thing. Unfortunately, the downside of this — there's a downside to everything — is that, among the barriers of entry that have been reduced, is you don't have to be able to read, write, or think. You can just come in and shout and call names and carry on."

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Matt K. Lewis is a contributing editor at TheWeek.com and a senior contributor for The Daily Caller. He has written for outlets including GQ Politics, The Guardian, and Politico, and has been cited or quoted by outlets including New York Magazine, the Washington Post, and The New York Times. Matt co-hosts The DMZ on Bloggingheads.TV, and also hosts his own podcast. In 2011, Business Insider listed him as one of the 50 "Pundits You Need To Pay Attention To Between Now And The Election." And in 2012, the American Conservative Union honored Matt as their CPAC "Blogger of the Year." He currently lives in Alexandria, Va.

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