New JournoList Leak: “Take one of them – Fred Barnes, Karl Rove, who cares – and call them racists”
Your media betters, scheming to spin the news:
I do not endorse a Popular Front, nor do I think you need to. It’s not necessary to jump to [Rev. Jeremiah] Wright-qua-Wright’s defense. What is necessary is to raise the cost on the right of going after the left. In other words, find a rightwinger’s [sic] and smash it through a plate-glass window. Take a snapshot of the bleeding mess and send it out in a Christmas card to let the right know that it needs to live in a state of constant fear. Obviously I mean this rhetorically.
And I think this threads the needle. If the right forces us all to either defend Wright or tear him down, no matter what we choose, we lose the game they’ve put upon us. Instead, take one of them — Fred Barnes, Karl Rove, who cares — and call them racists. Ask: why do they have such a deep-seated problem with a black politician who unites the country? What lurks behind those problems? This makes *them* sputter with rage, which in turn leads to overreaction and self-destruction.
Luckily, some JournoListers disagreed, because casually smearing people as racists is wrong they disagreed with the effectiveness of the strategy.
It’s all at the Daily Caller.
Comments fixed.
DRJ (d43dcd) — 7/20/2010 @ 10:28 amno they are not.
Wait, then how did i write this?
(yes, i am just f—ing around)
Aaron Worthing (A.W.) (e7d72e) — 7/20/2010 @ 10:31 amseriously, i had an attempt at a deep thought on all this and several other scandals, i called “the banality of bias.”
here: http://allergic2bull.blogspot.com/2010/07/banality-of-bias.html
Aaron Worthing (A.W.) (e7d72e) — 7/20/2010 @ 10:33 amThis is simply shocking! I can’t believe any sober member of the fourth estate would even fantasize in this fashion, much less share the fantasy even with trusted members of their great profession.
No, really!
I did say “sober.” We all know they are drunk on their power.
Dan S (6a22f8) — 7/20/2010 @ 10:35 amMy main reaction is that scores of ‘objective’ reporters were aware of this Journolist thread, and while they didn’t actually enter it, they didn’t cover this huge story.
It’s amazing to me that they simply pretended it didn’t happen. They could have interviewed people on this subject without breaking some confidentiality. They claim to be devoted to news gathering but ignored a huge story because they are democrat shills.
Every member of Journolist should hang their head in shame over this example alone, but I’m sure we’re about to be flooded with more examples.
The left will laugh this off because of the ‘opinion’ nature of most of the threat participants. If Rush and Beck and O’Reilly had agreed in private to invent a racism smear against a democrat, and help cover up some legit story, there would be government intervention and universal anger.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 7/20/2010 @ 10:39 amIt seems that not one but each week a target was picked,demonized, polarized,isolated and accused of not stopping some bad behavior that decent people condemn.The target then must waste time defending themselves from a baseless charge instead of pointing out actual missdeeds of thir clayfooted heroes.Some are honored with repeat nominations like sarah palin.
dunce (c5cd86) — 7/20/2010 @ 10:44 amwow Spencer Ackerman is on record saying he is willing to use TNR to lie about someone being racist just for to elect an unqualified dirty socialist Chicago street trash piece of crap for so he can spend our little country down the toilet.
I think if the agriculture lady had to be fired then Spence needs to be at a career crossroads really pretty damn quick.
happyfeet (71f55e) — 7/20/2010 @ 10:53 amAnother thing that is so troubling is that several of the “journalists” (and I use that term loosely) using the list are now at the Columbia School of Journalism, or at other universities, presumably teaching future journalists that the means justify the ends, and honesty in journalism is a thing of the past, as long as they are trying to benefit liberals and punish those evil conservatives.
rochf (ae9c58) — 7/20/2010 @ 10:53 amsorry… timeline-wise he was willing to use something called the Washington Independent to lie cause Frankie Foer had already canned his ass at TNR
happyfeet (71f55e) — 7/20/2010 @ 10:56 amIsn’t this exactly what you’d expect a particularly vicious shill for the democrat party to look like?
It’s like a comic book’s idea of a hippie douchebag.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 7/20/2010 @ 10:59 amApparently Breitbart’s tweet yesterday about Ackerman’s job was a reference to how this might impact his new job at Wired. It can’t make the typically non-political folks at Wired happy.
Plus, do you think the Daily Caller has all the JournoList entries and we may see them released over several weeks? That would be fun.
DRJ (d43dcd) — 7/20/2010 @ 11:02 amHeileman, the other weasel on “Game Change” came from there, so I don’t think that’s a big problem, he was one of those who started the ball rolling on Plame, by listening to Joe Wilson
ian cormac (d407d8) — 7/20/2010 @ 11:06 am“Plus, do you think the Daily Caller has all the JournoList entries and we may see them released over several weeks? That would be fun.
Comment by DRJ”
That would be fun, DRJ. Also kinda tragic to realize just how deep the rabbit hole goes, but that tragedy is no more Tucker’s fault than Sherrod’s is Breitbart’s fault.
I do think the Daily Caller or someone else has a lot of Journolist entries. Breitbart rescinded the $100,000 offer, after all.
I wonder if the material is being distributed to various new media orgs. It wasn’t good for media that Rathergate was Powerline+LGF. Perhaps this is just naive wishful thinking on my part, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the next breaking story doesn’t even come from the Daily Caller.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 7/20/2010 @ 11:07 amyeah, i agree.
the daily caller has either all of them, or substantially all of them.
Or at least enough to end alot of careers. Seriously most of the people in that article should lose their job.
Aaron Worthing (A.W.) (e7d72e) — 7/20/2010 @ 11:13 am“Whereby I formally rescind my $100k Journolist reward & wish Spencer Ackerman the very best in whatever profession he now chooses to enter.” — Tweet from Andrew Breitbart
Why would Andy rescind his offer? The answer may have the legacy media shaking in their boots. He may have already paid the $100,000. And what you are reading today is one of many more revelations to come.
I certainly hope so.
Corky Boyd (d787be) — 7/20/2010 @ 11:20 amBy the way, I think IMAO has a pretty good take in “The[] Vast, Moronic Left-Wing Conspiracy”
> I always thought the MSM was just a bunch of useless left-wing nitwits who would often try to be balanced but had such a fringe view on things and surrounded themselves with other fringe lefties so that they didn’t no idea how fringe they were that they often spectacularly failed at balance.
> That was too kind a view.
Agreed.
> I guess I should be threatened by this conspiracy, but I find it reassuring because, wow, what a group of excitable dimwits. These people are trying to organize a political movement and they don’t sound like the mental capacity to organize their clothes each morning. Like who is this little chihuahua Spencer Ackerman?
Bwahaha.
> There is nothing more harmful to left-wingers than them conspiring together; the further they surround themselves with other fringe lefties the further they isolate themselves from the views of the public at large.
Too true.
Aaron Worthing (A.W.) (e7d72e) — 7/20/2010 @ 11:21 amA succinct summary of the article, in my view.
Over at Hot Air, in one of the updates, I think Ed Morrisey really misses the point when he says that the majority of these people are “opinion journalists.” Last time I checked the law books, being an “opinion journalist” does NOT give you a free pass when it comes to libel and slander.
cc (c75ce7) — 7/20/2010 @ 11:25 amcc,
I was really shocked that Morrisey said that. I scrolled up to see if Allahpundit had said it (I like AP, but he often makes obviously zany comments only meant to inspire a debate).
Fact is, many ‘real’ journalists saw this crap too. And no opinion journalist should abide this. I actually remember some strange analysis of Fred Barnes’s views on affirmative action, too. He said something pretty reasonable, but apparently he’s a racist for it.
And if he sues, it will greatly boost the profile of the ‘Fred Barnes is a bigot’ narrative. Even if he wins, so what?
The mechanism most Americans rely on for commentary is hopelessly broken. I hear it on my local AM Austin talk news, I read it in the NYT, I see it on CNN.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 7/20/2010 @ 11:33 amThese reporters are so stupid that they need to be told how to slant the news? I think most of them do a pretty good job on their own.
Did they need Journolist to tell them to take down George Stephanopoulos for asking Obama a question about Rev. Wright? No, the media is a pack of dogs.
Arizona Bob (f57a20) — 7/20/2010 @ 11:41 amone party media is the problem
quasimodo (4af144) — 7/20/2010 @ 11:44 amTalk about poor timing!
Last week Lee Bollinger, president of Columbia University, wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal calling for government subsidies for legacy media. The basic rationale was established newspapers, magazines and broadcasters are necessary in a role of watchdog for good government.
What poppycock!
Today’s Daily Caller article puts a lie to all of that. That the media is not a watchdog, but a protector of inept and corrupt government. That journalism has fallen to a new low. And that his own university’s J-school had participants on Journolist.
There is only a short window of opportunity to stop this massive misuse of taxpayer money — between now and January, when a vastly less liberal Congress is seated. These revelations will put a crimp into these misguided plans.
Corky Boyd (d787be) — 7/20/2010 @ 11:46 amI guess I should be threatened by this conspiracy, but I find it reassuring because, wow, what a group of excitable dimwits. These people are trying to organize a political movement and they don’t sound like the mental capacity to organize their clothes each morning. Like who is this little chihuahua Spencer Ackerman?
I can’t help but notice that these “excitable dimwits” were able to get a dimwitted Marxist with no experience of anything except running for office elected as POTUS.
Subotai (932423) — 7/20/2010 @ 12:08 pmI think Ed Morrisey really misses the point when he says that the majority of these people are “opinion journalists.”
Morrisey is a an expert in missing the point. He is also constantly kissing up to the members of the MSM.
Subotai (932423) — 7/20/2010 @ 12:10 pmYeah, Subotai, hard to laugh it off when they apparently actually won this battle.
Mccain stayed away from many juicy and powerful issues such as Rev Wright. A real leader would be able to overcome this conspiracy, but I wonder if he was aware of this (more generally) and calculated that the media would spin the story to how racist he is.
They spun dumber theories pretty successfully.
I think these dimwits made more than enough difference to swing the election.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 7/20/2010 @ 12:11 pmHere was my favorite part of the Daily Caller story:
At long last, confirmation of what all of us have long believed: Feminists knew in their hearts that Clinton was guilty as charged of every single allegation that these women made against him, but they continued to support him because they generally shared his politics, or at least loathed the politics of the people who were pressing the case against him. Even Maureen Dowd said that the Clinton Administration had exposed feminist leaders as hypocrites who put party line over principles.
That aside, the revelations of the scheming of JournoList should be scandalous, but half of us assumed all along that this was going on and the other half of us don’t see anything wrong with it.
JVW (a52530) — 7/20/2010 @ 12:11 pmComment by Dustin — 7/20/2010 @ 10:59 am
I pictured Ackerman with longer hair and a more scraggly beard, but yeah, that is a pretty close approximation of the today’s “hip” young lefty tool. I see hundreds of these kinds of guys on college campuses, and serving me my drink at the local coffee shop.
I love how even in that picture Ackerman appears to be in mid-harrangue. What do you want to bet that when you meet him in person the guy never shuts up?
JVW (a52530) — 7/20/2010 @ 12:19 pmMy main reaction is that scores of ‘objective’ reporters were aware of this Journolist thread, and while they didn’t actually enter it, they didn’t cover this huge story.
They were more loyal to their group than to their putative obligation as journalists to inform the public. On those grounds alone, editors of “objective” publications should fire these “objective” reporters.
When the full JournoList membership is revealed, the public will know whom not to trust, and whom “objective” publications ought not to hire.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C. O.R. (a18ddc) — 7/20/2010 @ 12:22 pmBrother Bradley – What do you think it will take for reputable journalists to start demanding answers from the JournoListers, disclosure, etc …
JD (5375e6) — 7/20/2010 @ 12:41 pmActually, I’d like to know what it’ll take for reputable J-schools to terminate JournoListers.
John Hitchcock (9e8ad9) — 7/20/2010 @ 12:47 pmJohn, I bet a lot of the worst ones have tenure and will remain in power.
The real firings need to take place at a wider level. These J Schools should be badges of dishonor for any graduate.
Did DRJ or Breitbart or Hinderaker go to the Columbia School of Journalism?
People are already firing organizations that employ the corrupt journalists… not out of outrage, but because they just aren’t useful.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 7/20/2010 @ 12:53 pmJVW, I was also struck by the Katha Pollitt admission that she was shilling for Clinton in spite of knowing what a creep he was with women.
What we have here, in increasing measure, is Pravda with the blogs playing the role of the Samizdat. Everybody in Russia, including the Nomenklatura, knew Pravda was fake. I think the growing realization here is killing the newspapers and network news. Unless one of them realizes this and turns on its brethren, they are all toast, and soon.
Mike K (0ef8c3) — 7/20/2010 @ 1:01 pmAnd they call Glen Beck nuts for “imagining” conspiracies. Amazing stuff. They should all be ashamed of themselves for betraying their profession. When you have a freely created propaganda machine, it is a sad day for all Americans.
mbabbitt (d2d105) — 7/20/2010 @ 1:03 pmThose two paragraphs would get anybody fired. In any profession. So why do I think Ackerman will ‘walk on by’?
I kind of also see now why FNC has never had a rival. It’s not that the MSM doesn’t know that FNC has one side of the aisle to itself and a rival could swoop in and hit MSNBC size ratings almost from the start. No they see that just as clear as I have over the last 10 years. What keeps them in the fold is Journalist and similar informal ‘everyone on the same page’ methods. Can anyone guess what happens to a Journalist member ‘off the reservation’? The Rove/Barnes treatment I believe. FNC needs a rival, but nobody wants to give up their chair in the country club, plotting the future of the world.
East Bay Jay (2fd7f7) — 7/20/2010 @ 1:16 pmRove/Barnes is a funny way to spell “fired WAPO columnist David Weigel.”
No, but seriously, you’re right, they gobble up any of their members who challenges the orthodoxy.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 7/20/2010 @ 1:21 pmI would love to see a full and complete list of the members of JournoList. An enterprising young research reporter could track member stories and memes to the behind the scenes machinations of the JournoListers manipulating Teh Narrative. Maybe next time the various channels have on Ezra Klein, someone might ask him about it?
JD (5375e6) — 7/20/2010 @ 1:26 pmJD
i figure we will eventually. or at least something like 90% of it. but not right away. why not?
because they want to do the water torture of drip, drip, dripping the story out, day by day. Depending on how bad this is, we could be in this for months. The daily caller is sitting on a goldmine and they know it. and they plan to mine it for all its worth.
Aaron Worthing (A.W.) (e7d72e) — 7/20/2010 @ 1:38 pmIronically, an objective well-researched investigative article analyzing the contents of the Journolist archive could bring a Pulitzer prize for its author. Has there ever before been such a treasure-trove of inside info on how jornalists really work and think? You _know_ it’s full of juicy stuff just by the fact that Ezra Klein deleted it so abruptly.
gp (72be5d) — 7/20/2010 @ 1:41 pmA. W. I hope you are right about the Journolist/Daily Caller connection. Something tells me that they only have a little bit of it if what was said up thread about Brietbart rescinding his 100 grand offer for the whole thing is true. You would think some little commie J-School grad would want that to pay off his tuition.
BT (74cbec) — 7/20/2010 @ 1:55 pmBT
Well, breitbart ABSOLUTELY rescinded the reward. i saw the twitter itself.
and the same tweet said that ackerman won’t be working in journalism anymore.
Aaron Worthing (A.W.) (e7d72e) — 7/20/2010 @ 2:14 pmCan you just picture Ezra F5ing Biggovernment.com all morning before he got the SMS that Daily Caller had the story?
I think it’s interesting that Breitbart had inside information about his competitor’s scoop. I hope he’s having a lot of fun. If he really spent $100k for the good fight, I hope he enjoys the hell out of this.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 7/20/2010 @ 2:22 pmDustin
it might have been as simple as the DC saying, “look, you can take down the reward, now, fyi…”
i keep waiting to hear what happens to these journOlists. does spencer hackerman still have a job?
Aaron Worthing (A.W.) (e7d72e) — 7/20/2010 @ 2:36 pmI am very much of the opinion that Breitbart has already paid out the hundred grand for the Journolist archives, or that someone else with contacts and doing an investigation paid an even bigger bounty for it. Obviously, in either case Andrew would rescind the original offer so that no one else would try to claim the bounty in an effort to save their reputation now that the cat is already out of the bag.
As the delicious emails are exposed I do hope that they do it with a “slow hand” and “an easy touch” to keep the public aroused and make the pleasure last all the way till November.
elissa (3b9d75) — 7/20/2010 @ 2:37 pmAW, that’s probably more realistic.
But my version is cooler.
I recall Patterico often teasing about various O’Keefe or Breitbart stories a little ahead of time. I think there’s a nice amount of showmanship that really makes this whole sad story more tolerable.
Considering that this is a substantial sum, perhaps Breitbart was the public face, but the money was from a few news sources pooling together. Since a major aspect of this story is how journalism responds to corruption, perhaps it would be better if many sources rise up and report this scandal.
If the WSJ or PJM were to have the scoop tomorrow… well, that’s extremely unrealistic. But it’s cool.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 7/20/2010 @ 2:41 pmSlurping at the trough of consensual deceit. These intellectual punks show such disdain for their audience. The arrogance is so unearned.
Birdbath (8501d4) — 7/20/2010 @ 2:47 pmBrother Bradley – What do you think it will take for reputable journalists to start demanding answers from the JournoListers, disclosure, etc …
Lose their fear of being ostracized> And get disgusted enough with the way their profession is being disgraced by these propagandists.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (a18ddc) — 7/20/2010 @ 3:05 pmSo, never. Basically.
JD (fc59fb) — 7/20/2010 @ 3:09 pmActually, I’d like to know what it’ll take for reputable J-schools to terminate JournoListers.
Loss of reputation and students, certainly not any ethical qualms. Many of the putatively reputable J-schools are run by faculty who openly advocate that “objective” journalists use their stories to advance left-wing causes. To them, the actions of folks like Ackerman are not a bug, but a feature.
Just going to a big-name J-school is no guarantee of a good job. Students can rack up tens of thousands of debt and wind up earning a miserly wage.
It’s classic economics. The supply of left-wing journalists greatly exceeds the demand, so most are going to wind up eating Top Ramen.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (a18ddc) — 7/20/2010 @ 3:16 pmI don’t know who gets the credit for this, but from now on, the response to an allegation of racism should be “Did Spencer Ackerman say that you should make that allegation?”, before any other response is made — even confession.
htom (412a17) — 7/20/2010 @ 3:25 pmHas anyone heard if Charles Johnson of LGF was a Journolist member? It might explain a lot of things.
Shane (aa525d) — 7/20/2010 @ 3:33 pmJD,
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (a18ddc) — 7/20/2010 @ 3:55 pmI’m not quite that pessimistic. The more thoughtful and ethical journalists will be disgusted, and move away from the JournoList crowd. Some may make their displeasure public, others will quietly distance themselves from those ethically challenged folks.
I would not bank on even 1 public disavowal at this point, Brother Bradley.
JD (0ce0dc) — 7/20/2010 @ 3:57 pmI hope Breitbart slowly leaks them out with the the biggest bang coming in October/November… saving the best for last.
Who is leaking the emails and why?
I was also struck by the Katha Pollitt admission that she was shilling for Clinton in spite of knowing what a creep he was with women.
Once again confirming the dishonesty of fems. And yes this is painting with the broad brush but I think it’s appropriate and fitting. If you don’t have the balls to stand against a known abuser and objectifier of women, then don’t go presenting yourself as the liberated woman because you’re even more of a whore than those who willingly submitted and surrendered to the power of Clinton. To know what he did to those unwilling and unwelcoming to his advances and overlook that is to essentially hate other women.
Hm. Which might indeed be the very definition of feminist.
Dana (a99c9f) — 7/20/2010 @ 4:10 pmIs the list of 400 or so media darlings who frequented Journolist even known? I am not aware that there has ever been a disclosure along those lines. Talk about maggots under a rock….
BT (74cbec) — 7/20/2010 @ 4:19 pmBT – Sadly, that will never happen. Transparency is only important to other people.
JD (0ce0dc) — 7/20/2010 @ 4:26 pmJD,
They may begin naming each other to discredit rivals. No honor among thieves . . .
And the emails already in Breitbart’s hands would probably form a good draft list.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (a18ddc) — 7/20/2010 @ 4:29 pmI wish Breitbart would make a very very very very very public list of everyone that we know to have been a part of this cesspool.
JD (0ce0dc) — 7/20/2010 @ 4:31 pmI think the rapid and pretty severe concern trolling against Breitbart as a fabricator (when he obviously isn’t one) regarding Sherrod is simply an attempt to reduce the impact of this greater story.
I’m not suggesting those on the right should conspire to thwart that argument, but it’s a shame a few are acting like Breitbart was dishonest when there’s absolutely no indication he withheld anything or distorted anything.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 7/20/2010 @ 4:45 pmAckerman is getting his due attention today, but we must issue our greatest scorn for the founding father of Journolist–smarmy, scuzzy, little Ezra Klein–whose whole intent in selecting and organizing the secret propagandists was exactly how it worked out.
There’s a lot of hand-wringing about journalistic ethics on this blog and others, but we must remember that Ezra did not graduate from a journalism school–so in his mind he took no ethics courses that he is violating, and has no need to adhere to such ethics as real, professional journalists are supposedly taught and allegedly live by. It’s all a game to him. Dave Weigel probably had some ethics courses at Medill, but how many of the other juice box journalists and even the more established pundits on Journolist have not?
And where is MayBee?
elissa (3b9d75) — 7/20/2010 @ 4:49 pmMayBee rocks. Rocks I tell you.
JD (0ce0dc) — 7/20/2010 @ 4:55 pmI scrolled all the way to the top to find the MayBee. I scrolled and scrolled.
She is not here.
happyfeet (71f55e) — 7/20/2010 @ 5:03 pmLA Times’s James Rainey is all over the Sherrod story on Twitter but not even a single little tweet about Journolist. Wonder if he was a member?
LukeHandCool (fa3b23) — 7/20/2010 @ 5:20 pmThere is no media, only an extension of the propaganda arm of the Democrat party and liberals, in general.
GeneralMalaise (26e9b5) — 7/20/2010 @ 5:27 pmLukeHandCool – Rainey would fit with the known people, and types of people. He would fit quite nicely. Epistemic closure, indeed.
Karl should do a follow-up to that mushroom-bruise he gave to that clown last week.
JD (0ce0dc) — 7/20/2010 @ 5:27 pm“Take one of them say
Spencer Ackerman and call
him a punkass b*tch.”
– Colonel Haiku
ColonelHaiku (26e9b5) — 7/20/2010 @ 5:34 pmThe JournoList question should asked not just of Rainey, but also of other big media journalists, especially the “objective” reporters and editors.
Just imagine the agonizing problem this creates for all JournoList members. Anyone who denies belonging could be exposed as a liar with the next leak of emails.
Let all who oppose lies, deceit and hidden agendas in journalism give thanks to the chief architect of this wonderful turn of events: The wise fool Ezra Klein.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (a18ddc) — 7/20/2010 @ 5:57 pmJD–Yes, Rainey would seem like a good fit. He, and a few others at the LAT. His silence on this supremely important issue regarding the media is deafening. Did you hear him interviewed by Hugh Hewitt? What an embarrassment. Just before a commercial break, Rainey repeated the old “people in the media were calling Obama a muslim during the campaign” nonsense. Hewitt called him on it. Hugh told him to go ahead and Google it during the break and provide the name of just one person in the media who said that when they came back. After the commercial, there was dial-tone silence. Rainey had hung up the phone. Anyway, I wonder if someone has already collected that $100,000 from Breitbart? It would be great to see this stuff come out ever so slowly and painfully.
LukeHandCool (fa3b23) — 7/20/2010 @ 6:14 pmBrother Bradley–Yes, someone should be asking them. Let’s see their commitment to transparency.
LukeHandCool (fa3b23) — 7/20/2010 @ 6:16 pmJD,
I’ll have the next round soon.
Karl (12dcea) — 7/20/2010 @ 6:24 pmKarl – that whole epistemic closure meme kind of got set on its ear, no? Don’t the recent revelations quite clearly contradict Klein’s original defense of JournoList?
JD (bf6262) — 7/20/2010 @ 6:41 pmTucker Carlson says next up (12:01AM Wednesday) will be a story about Journolist members discussing the need for the government to use the FCC to shut Fox News down.
GeneralMalaise (11870b) — 7/20/2010 @ 6:51 pmI feel it in my fingers I feel it in my toes
happyfeet (19c1da) — 7/20/2010 @ 6:57 pmChavez is all around me and so the feeling grows
JD,
You may be thinking of Chait and Yglesias.
Karl (12dcea) — 7/20/2010 @ 7:14 pmI find that I am thoroughly enjoying the idea that there are many, many, many scared lefty “journalists” alone out there in the world tonight, ruing the day they ever heard Ezra Klein’s name. And they can’t talk it over or commiserate with buddies and colleagues–because they have no idea whom they can trust.
The chronology of this attempt by media activists and propagandists to influence information so that their favored candidates could take over the US government would have made a nifty novel. But instead it is real life. And it is our country. (Would love to be able to eavesdrop on the virtual pillow talk Bill and Hillary are having about this today.)
elissa (3b9d75) — 7/20/2010 @ 7:17 pmMaybe some do, but Tim McGuire did not advocate such a thing in that blog post.
Michael Ejercito (249c90) — 7/20/2010 @ 7:17 pmGeneralMalaise:
I wonder if that was in October 2009 when David Axlerod said the Fox News Channel is “not really a news station” and that much of the programming is “not really news.”
DRJ (d43dcd) — 7/20/2010 @ 7:19 pm48. … from now on, the response to an allegation of racism should be “Did Spencer Ackerman say that you should make that allegation?”, .
Comment by htom
That would leave an awkward silence for a bit, a real stunner.
When Hillary and others started with their “vast right wing conspiracy” stuff I simply thought of it as a bunch of nonsense they were using to deflect attention, little did I realize this was actually another example of LPS (Leftist Projection Syndrome), where they accuse conservatives of things that we would never think of, but they have already put in place.
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 7/20/2010 @ 7:30 pmWe shall soon see, DRJ. Carlson said the plotters included a law professor, for crying out loud.
GeneralMalaise (11870b) — 7/20/2010 @ 7:50 pmYou know I imagine Hillary is throwing some heavy
ian cormac (d407d8) — 7/20/2010 @ 7:53 pmfurniture around today, seeing how they strove to
sabotage her campaign
–Carlson said the plotters included a law professor–
Well, Mr. Cass S. did write a book called “NUDGE” and did advocate infiltration and propaganda to discredit organizations and groups that “spread conspiracy theories”.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,591374,00.html
elissa (3b9d75) — 7/20/2010 @ 8:08 pmmalaise, certainly what he said in hannity tonight suggested you are right. Can’t wait until midnight.
Aaron Worthing (A.W.) (f97997) — 7/20/2010 @ 8:09 pmYou guys ever notice that journalists are basically scumbags?
Dave Surls (f961ad) — 7/20/2010 @ 8:43 pmbtw, new stuff at the daily caller. not nearly as awesome as yesterday’s.
http://dailycaller.com/2010/07/21/liberal-journalists-suggest-government-shut-down-fox-news/
My big takeaway is how much these people sound like the idiots at Daily Kos.
Aaron Worthing (A.W.) (f97997) — 7/20/2010 @ 9:10 pmIt’s shocking to me, A.W. It’s one thing to believe journalists think these things and have even been known to say them in whispers in the recesses of the local pub. It’s another thing for journalists — on a professional listserv, no less — to seriously discuss the benefits of politically-driven censorship or how fun it would be to see Rush Limbaugh die.
DRJ (d43dcd) — 7/20/2010 @ 9:23 pmMaybe some do, but Tim McGuire did not advocate such a thing in that blog post.
Oh, yes he did. He invoked the civil rights movement and “race controversy” to tell reporters how to cover the law.
The state of Arizona has been down the road of national race controversy before. Arguably it has taken years to recover from the bitter fallout surrounding the state’s reluctance to recognize the Martin Luther King holiday. It is quite possible that the firestorm over SB 1070 could make the King tumult look like, well, a tea party! Monday’s Vanity Fair says Arizona is THE most unpopular state, and that may have been the highlight of the weekend’s public relations.
By framing this as a race issue, instead of a law enforcement issue, McGuire is adopting the language of the law’s opponents.
Don’t let McGuire’s nod to being fair fool you. He’ll advocate being nonpartisan in one breath, and call for advocacy in the next. This is from a subsequent post:
Increasingly, in the last few years, I have become an even stronger critic of editorial pages that show a partisan tilt. I know it is a radical, unpopular view with editorial page editors, but editorial pages that are easily read as conservative or liberal damage news gathering credibility. No matter what we tell readers they see bias based on the editorial stance.
The right intellectual space for editorial pages is community debate and leadership. Editorial pages must take more of a 50,000-foot perspective. They must be agenda setters. Guiding the nature of debate and centering the correct issues to move a community forward should be the editorial mission of every newspaper.
Notice that in the first graf McGuire criticizes editorial pages “that show a partisan tilt.”
But in the next graf, McGuire says editorial pages must be “agenda setters.” They should guide the debate and center “the correct issues to move a community forward.”
Just what are “the correct issues”?
McGuire isn’t warning against having a political agenda. He’s warning against being too obvious with a political agenda. He says “editorial pages that are easily read as conservative or liberal damage news gathering credibility.”
The key words are “easily read.”
And McGuire’s description of the Arizona Republic’s front-page editorial is nonsensical on its face: “The newspaper devoted its front page (a wrapper) to a full-page editorial demanding local politicians stop playing games and fix the nation’s immigration mess.”
The “local politicians” should “fix the nation’s immigration mess”?
How about urging the nation’s politicians to fix the nation’s immigration mess?
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (fb9e90) — 7/20/2010 @ 9:26 pmDRJ – I wish I could say it surprised me, but it doesn’t. Not in the least. They believe they are superior people, superior intellectually and superior morally, to us idiotic hilljack rubes.
JD (0ce0dc) — 7/20/2010 @ 9:27 pmWhere are timb or Myron to defend their fellow-travelers?
Some chump (e84e27) — 7/20/2010 @ 9:27 pmThe Daily Caller article identifies the law professor as Jonathan Zasloff, a law professor at UCLA, who suggested that the federal government simply yank Fox off the air:
Here is Professor Zasloff’s biography, and thankfully he doesn’t teach First Amendment law.
DRJ (d43dcd) — 7/20/2010 @ 9:29 pmsome chump – They are cowards.
JD (0ce0dc) — 7/20/2010 @ 9:32 pmthat’s creepy that law professors were on journolist
happyfeet (19c1da) — 7/20/2010 @ 9:33 pmhappyfeet – law professors, Columbia Journalism Review folks, allegedly non-biased journolists …
JD (0ce0dc) — 7/20/2010 @ 9:35 pmColumbia Journalism Review’s chairman is Victor Navasky, former editor and publisher of The Nation.
I’ve seen some disgusted readers bring up this connection in comments to the CJR’s predictably left-leaning “journalism”.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (fb9e90) — 7/20/2010 @ 9:54 pmI find that I am thoroughly enjoying the idea that there are many, many, many scared lefty “journalists” alone out there in the world tonight, ruing the day they ever heard Ezra Klein’s name. And they can’t talk it over or commiserate with buddies and colleagues–because they have no idea whom they can trust.
Personally, I’m thinking that I’m ashamed that so many journalists believe that they think they can have something as stupid as a listserv without being found out.
I’m appalled that educators willfully engaged in attempts to subvert the free exchange of ideas for their ideology.
The whole idea of journolist subverts the Constitution that its members pay lip service to uphold.
If your ideas are important, if they matter, if they are immune to the light of day, by God, say them in an open forum. Plotting in the darkness makes you no better than a roach.
Ag80 (363d6e) — 7/20/2010 @ 10:02 pmI work in academia, and I am not surprised by the vitriol, nor the authoritarianism. It’s not unique to the Left, of course. My father has some, um, unusual ideas.
But the Left paints the Right as authoritarian, even using the word “fascist” often and with relish. Here we can see the essential mean spiritedness and the drive for control over others that many in the insular Left have developed. Part of it, I think, is the fact that they only hang out with those with whom they agree.
I have a good friend who is a lawyer in the Bay Area. He considers himself a ardent feminist, and is very, very sensitive to feminist issues he feels are violated by the Right. But he has no problem at all saying the most vile things about Sarah Palin, or posting Photoshops of Palin’s head on a streetwalker’s body.
Because that is different.
I don’t know who said it, and I am not enough of a historian to find out, but I think it is true that the only just law is law you don’t mind in the hands of your bitterest enemies.
So it is here. These characters have no problem suggesting that a news source be shut down with the power of government.
Government they approve of, they mean. I cannot imagine they would approve of a similar action by a Republican adminstration.
But then, many of these fellows and gals are pretty quite about Gitmo right now. What has changed?
And finally, it is a warning to the Right. We shouldn’t be that way, either.
These Journolisters are scary people.
Eric Blair (d7ba5c) — 7/20/2010 @ 10:04 pm‘Jonathan Zasloff, a law professor at UCLA, suggested that the federal government simply yank Fox off the air. “I hate to open this can of worms,” he wrote, “but is there any reason why the FCC couldn’t simply pull their broadcasting permit once it expires?”’
Lefties/fascists/commies are always dreaming about shutting down opposition news outlets.
It’s kind of a tradition for left wing scum of all stripes.
Dave Surls (f961ad) — 7/20/2010 @ 10:15 pmNor am I surprised, having worked in academia myself for a decade. Funny how such “tolerant” leftists display – and proudly so – the very behavior they pretend to condemn. Goddamn yellow-bellied hypocrites, all of them.
Mike LaRoche (d4323e) — 7/20/2010 @ 10:56 pmAnother reaction is that this kind of collusion has been so obvious for at least 20 years.
We didn’t need Journolist to know this collusion existed. Now, we see that they are agreeing to bash FNC… um, we saw that for years, though, where FNC would do superior journalism and receive scorn, interview a democrat leader more fairly than CBS interviewed a republican leader, and FNC got more scorn. Serious questions about whether it’s OK for democrats to boycott a debate on FNC.
Same for the racism smears. Or the Suicidal Rapist Torture Koran Desecration anti Soldier propaganda of the week when Bush was in power.
Or the economic gaming (and this one is seriously egregious and obvious). If they can cool a boom, to hurt Bush, they do, and if they can saw “AMERICA IS BACK” and “Unexcepted ____” to maximize what’s left of the Obama economy, they will.
They think we’re stupid that we don’t see it. And maybe they are more right about that than I care to admit.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 7/20/2010 @ 11:00 pmI know you have, Professor LaRoche. You already know my stories. Sheesh.
Eric Blair (d7ba5c) — 7/20/2010 @ 11:38 pmThis isn’t just scheming to spin the news. This is fascism.
JosephD (67f9e0) — 7/21/2010 @ 1:03 am#87 DRJ:
Doesn’t sound like he teaches much of anything.
But he certainly are full of himself, ain’t he.
EW1(SG) (edc268) — 7/21/2010 @ 4:05 amEven Sully isn’t defending JournoList.
The far right is right on this: this collusion is corruption. It is no less corrupt than the comically propagandistic Fox News and the lock-step orthodoxy on the partisan right in journalism – but it is nonetheless corrupt. Having a private journalistic list-serv to debate, bring issues to general attention, notice new facts seems pretty innocuous to me. But this was an attempt to corral press coverage and skew it to a particular outcome.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (fb9e90) — 7/21/2010 @ 5:57 amSloppy writing or purposeful misdirection from Alex Altman yesterday at Time’s Swampland blog?
I’m not on Journolist, so it’s impossible for me to say whether the emails the Daily Caller highlighted are representative, but I think the story’s interpretation of the reaction to Stephanopoulos’s question is wrong.
Note the use of the present tense. JournoList has been disbanded, said founder Ezra Klein, so no one is on JournoList anymore.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (fb9e90) — 7/21/2010 @ 6:12 amHe’s a Joe Klein in training, I know I don’t get the need for that either, remember thought, the
ian cormac (d407d8) — 7/21/2010 @ 6:20 am‘first rule of Fight Club’
btw, has Dave Weigel weighed in yet?
Dana (a99c9f) — 7/21/2010 @ 9:32 am