Mitch McConnell is getting exactly the kind of coverage he had hoped for -- and had every reason to expect -- from a press corps that is incapable of holding the Republican Party accountable for anything.
In which I rewrite the top of news stories that really bugged me this week. Today: The New York Times gets overwrought about a delayed vote; two news organizations struggle with denominators, and more.
An overwrought and smarmy lead Times story by Jonathan Weisman and Emily Cochrane described what may end up as a blip as a sky-is-falling scenario for Democrats undermined by a “liberal revolt” that amounted to a “humiliating blow” for Biden.
Reporters rush madly after deceptive talking points and hype conflict, rather than focusing on the big story, which is how little Congress actually does.
No one can possibly argue that modern political journalism has fulfilled its essential mission of creating an informed electorate. Here's how it needs to change.
Republican congressional leaders are flagrantly ginning up a major political and financial crisis -- safe in the knowledge that the Washington press corps will blame both sides.
The same elite journalists who contemporaneously failed to hold the responsible parties accountable are now telling us self-servingly that there is really no one to blame.
Every news organizations should have a “straightforward protocol” for responding to “targeted campaigns that seek to undermine the legitimacy of news organizations and obscure the facts around conflicts.” Just fill in the blanks.
Sally Buzbee enters a newsroom in crisis. Her most urgent task is to establish clear, honest, and principled ways of covering a major political party that is increasingly devoted to subverting democracy.
The key for the Times opinion section going forward should be quality control, not opinion control. There should be a near-zero tolerance for bad-faith arguments. And if Republicans refuse, they haven't been canceled, they've opted out.
It's one thing for our top news organizations to accept payoffs from Facebook while leaving smaller newsrooms to die. It's another for them to hide it from their readers and viewers.
