This was one of the best articles I have read about the inherent dishonesty and complete nonsense of the Maggie Haberman's era of WH journalism. She is hardly a giant of reporting as the NY Times would have us belief…she is, rather, to journalism what a TV host of the QVC sales channel is to tele-marketing.
Trump spent months talking up election fraud and saying he would not accept an electoral loss. The media should have been ringing alarm bells over this shocking lack of regard for the democratic process being demonstrated by the President of the United States. Instead, thanks to "access is everything" reporters like Haberman, this seditious behavior was dismissed as more of Trump's bluster and BS, and we were fed stories about the president's mood, and how he was begrudgingly moving on. And then - January 6th, which was not only foreseeable, but inevitable. Trump made no effort to disguise the fact that he was totally in thrall to his delusions, but Maggie stood by her pals who were telling her Trump was just pouting, and would eventually move on. There was nothing normal about Trump...unless you read the Times.
Mr. Boehlert, Off topic, but I'm surprised you missed the headline on yesterday's Washington Post, "Infections climb on Biden's watch".
It is hard to imagine any universe where the uptick in Covid cases can be compared to those of 1/20/21.
It's hard to imagine that such an inflammatory headline is justified by the fact that Covid infections were up last week.
It's hard to imagine any honest headline writer choosing that where the second paragraph admits that infections are off 2/3 from the inauguration.
I would love to see new Covid infections drop each and every week. I fear Governors DeSantis & Abbot have made that impossible. But such a headline? Really?
We naively assume that journalists get into the business to be the best at informing the public of the truth. Great journalists do so by digging deep, acquiring reputable sources, then fashioning the real story for the public to consume. Certainly Jane Mayer comes to mind with her brilliant books and articles. Maggie Haberman is a hack. Like all professions, there are pros and there are cons. In the case of Haberman, her goal was only to promote herself, her career. During Trump and since, It has not been to inform us all of what was really going on during the past administration. It was to bend the sick truth to keep her in the good graces of her paper so she could continue spewing out more trash to live another day. Sadly many of the "journalists" at the Times and the WPO feel that their career is most important. I believe that was the root of calling a lie a mistruth.
Just a reminder that Nancy Haberman, Maggie’s mother, works for the PR firm, Rubenstein, which was founded by Howard Rubenstein – a PR legend, who was once called “the dean of damage control” by Rudy Giuliani.
Google Howard Rubenstein. You'll be amazed to see what you find.
It's really remarkable to look at the headlines from a year ago, and how they all took the remarks of a clearly, deeply stupid man who had no interest in anything but how he looked and gently repositioned them as unconventional ideas by an unconventional thinker.
I always assumed anything bylined by Haberman was the story (or the version) that Trump/Jared/Ivanka wanted us to hear as it was mostly inside-the-palace gossip. It was all sugar and no substance: who is in the dog house, who is on the up-swing according to the Trumps themselves. It was all BS.
Rosenstein, Burkes & all of those who defended & protected him. I know I sound like a broken record, bu Dr. Bandy Lee & her cohorts warned us that Trump needed to be contained from early on. And if he wasn’t the pathology that is his vile contagion would multiple among the masses. He wasn’t then and isn’t today and the poison is spreading. He continues to be an increasing danger as he and his enablers (Miller, Hannity, Pompeo, McEnany) walk freely in the world of disinformation & lies and land 7 figure platforms! He’s spawned MTG, Boebert, Hawley, anti -vaccine diehards, the hubris of state legislatures to write and pass voter suppression laws, a vice on previously, (at least semi-reasonable), representatives and the arrogant strategy of Gaetz who will turn the “I’m the victim here” playbook on the feds (remember Mueller, Kavanaugh & 2 impeachment’s?) while viewed as “being cancelled” by his millions of supporters. Haberman became drunk on his abusive relationship with the NYT’s and represents what some view as the most prestigious tools of the 4th estate.
I don’t know if this exactly applies here, but didn’t someone write once: “Everything Trump Touches Dies?” We thought so, didn’t we?
Thank you for this coverage of someone who gets so many accolades yet seems to have all of credibility of Fox News. I still blame Haberman for her coverage of Sec. Clinton during the election and wonder if that might have made some difference with the razor thin Electoral College win. Her demeanor when interviewed on TV always sets my teeth on edge and most (all?) of the interviewers seem so deferential to her. So, thank you.
PS I decided after 50 years of reading and subscribing to the NYT to cancel and I told them why. My money, my choice.
Still waiting for one example of a story by Haberman which revealed anything which might help her readers understand what the administration was doing and how it affected them; i.e., a story which was <i>not</i> some variation on Who's Up, Who's Down, Who's Miffed at Whom, Who's (Anonymously) "Concerned."
And I'm loving it....too too bad Ms. Maggie. Am beginning to really detest Ashley Parker of the WaPo as well. Everything she has a hand in has a negative tone about Biden.
Haberman landed a gig with the Murdoch tabloid and favorite Trump daily New York Post right out of college. I am not sure why she took that job, seems an unusual way to start a career in journalism. Shall we grant "first job" benefit of the doubt? Maybe--but she stayed for 5-6 years. We should all think about the first 5-6 years of our professional life, how meaningful they were, and how they shaped us. She jumped to the New York Daily News, but returned to the classy New York Post. (see headline 2/8/19 "Bezos Exposes Pecker") Again, why?
When the NYT plucked her in 2016 it was in my opinion to cover the tabloid candidate and gain access. The awards that followed will always have an asterisk as trump WH coverage. This period will not age well, and the damage of normalizing these years is still unfolding.
Really well articulated, Eric. I've never figured out the exaltation of Haberman. She didn't start out this blatantly obsequious, but has certainly cemented a reputation as 45's stenographer. I can't imagine much interest in her book next year.
The more you emphasize this point in your posts, the more I see what you see. Is this because rich white men make all the rules? So disheartening, but better to see than not. Thx.
This was one of the best articles I have read about the inherent dishonesty and complete nonsense of the Maggie Haberman's era of WH journalism. She is hardly a giant of reporting as the NY Times would have us belief…she is, rather, to journalism what a TV host of the QVC sales channel is to tele-marketing.
Trump spent months talking up election fraud and saying he would not accept an electoral loss. The media should have been ringing alarm bells over this shocking lack of regard for the democratic process being demonstrated by the President of the United States. Instead, thanks to "access is everything" reporters like Haberman, this seditious behavior was dismissed as more of Trump's bluster and BS, and we were fed stories about the president's mood, and how he was begrudgingly moving on. And then - January 6th, which was not only foreseeable, but inevitable. Trump made no effort to disguise the fact that he was totally in thrall to his delusions, but Maggie stood by her pals who were telling her Trump was just pouting, and would eventually move on. There was nothing normal about Trump...unless you read the Times.
Mr. Boehlert, Off topic, but I'm surprised you missed the headline on yesterday's Washington Post, "Infections climb on Biden's watch".
It is hard to imagine any universe where the uptick in Covid cases can be compared to those of 1/20/21.
It's hard to imagine that such an inflammatory headline is justified by the fact that Covid infections were up last week.
It's hard to imagine any honest headline writer choosing that where the second paragraph admits that infections are off 2/3 from the inauguration.
I would love to see new Covid infections drop each and every week. I fear Governors DeSantis & Abbot have made that impossible. But such a headline? Really?
We naively assume that journalists get into the business to be the best at informing the public of the truth. Great journalists do so by digging deep, acquiring reputable sources, then fashioning the real story for the public to consume. Certainly Jane Mayer comes to mind with her brilliant books and articles. Maggie Haberman is a hack. Like all professions, there are pros and there are cons. In the case of Haberman, her goal was only to promote herself, her career. During Trump and since, It has not been to inform us all of what was really going on during the past administration. It was to bend the sick truth to keep her in the good graces of her paper so she could continue spewing out more trash to live another day. Sadly many of the "journalists" at the Times and the WPO feel that their career is most important. I believe that was the root of calling a lie a mistruth.
Eric does it again! It’s about time someone called out that overrated Trump enabling hack Haberman.
Just a reminder that Nancy Haberman, Maggie’s mother, works for the PR firm, Rubenstein, which was founded by Howard Rubenstein – a PR legend, who was once called “the dean of damage control” by Rudy Giuliani.
Google Howard Rubenstein. You'll be amazed to see what you find.
Here's a starter http://www.citjourno.org/maggie3
It's really remarkable to look at the headlines from a year ago, and how they all took the remarks of a clearly, deeply stupid man who had no interest in anything but how he looked and gently repositioned them as unconventional ideas by an unconventional thinker.
I always assumed anything bylined by Haberman was the story (or the version) that Trump/Jared/Ivanka wanted us to hear as it was mostly inside-the-palace gossip. It was all sugar and no substance: who is in the dog house, who is on the up-swing according to the Trumps themselves. It was all BS.
Rosenstein, Burkes & all of those who defended & protected him. I know I sound like a broken record, bu Dr. Bandy Lee & her cohorts warned us that Trump needed to be contained from early on. And if he wasn’t the pathology that is his vile contagion would multiple among the masses. He wasn’t then and isn’t today and the poison is spreading. He continues to be an increasing danger as he and his enablers (Miller, Hannity, Pompeo, McEnany) walk freely in the world of disinformation & lies and land 7 figure platforms! He’s spawned MTG, Boebert, Hawley, anti -vaccine diehards, the hubris of state legislatures to write and pass voter suppression laws, a vice on previously, (at least semi-reasonable), representatives and the arrogant strategy of Gaetz who will turn the “I’m the victim here” playbook on the feds (remember Mueller, Kavanaugh & 2 impeachment’s?) while viewed as “being cancelled” by his millions of supporters. Haberman became drunk on his abusive relationship with the NYT’s and represents what some view as the most prestigious tools of the 4th estate.
I don’t know if this exactly applies here, but didn’t someone write once: “Everything Trump Touches Dies?” We thought so, didn’t we?
Thank you for this coverage of someone who gets so many accolades yet seems to have all of credibility of Fox News. I still blame Haberman for her coverage of Sec. Clinton during the election and wonder if that might have made some difference with the razor thin Electoral College win. Her demeanor when interviewed on TV always sets my teeth on edge and most (all?) of the interviewers seem so deferential to her. So, thank you.
PS I decided after 50 years of reading and subscribing to the NYT to cancel and I told them why. My money, my choice.
Still waiting for one example of a story by Haberman which revealed anything which might help her readers understand what the administration was doing and how it affected them; i.e., a story which was <i>not</i> some variation on Who's Up, Who's Down, Who's Miffed at Whom, Who's (Anonymously) "Concerned."
And I'm loving it....too too bad Ms. Maggie. Am beginning to really detest Ashley Parker of the WaPo as well. Everything she has a hand in has a negative tone about Biden.
Thanks Eric.
Haberman landed a gig with the Murdoch tabloid and favorite Trump daily New York Post right out of college. I am not sure why she took that job, seems an unusual way to start a career in journalism. Shall we grant "first job" benefit of the doubt? Maybe--but she stayed for 5-6 years. We should all think about the first 5-6 years of our professional life, how meaningful they were, and how they shaped us. She jumped to the New York Daily News, but returned to the classy New York Post. (see headline 2/8/19 "Bezos Exposes Pecker") Again, why?
When the NYT plucked her in 2016 it was in my opinion to cover the tabloid candidate and gain access. The awards that followed will always have an asterisk as trump WH coverage. This period will not age well, and the damage of normalizing these years is still unfolding.
Really well articulated, Eric. I've never figured out the exaltation of Haberman. She didn't start out this blatantly obsequious, but has certainly cemented a reputation as 45's stenographer. I can't imagine much interest in her book next year.
The more you emphasize this point in your posts, the more I see what you see. Is this because rich white men make all the rules? So disheartening, but better to see than not. Thx.
I have a Kamala Harris quote t-shirt I was wearing in a Twitter post the other day and had no idea I was a proud member of the K-Hive.
And Maggie Haberman is irrelevant.
My God, Eric, everything about this article just makes me smile. What a great way to start the weekend. Thank you.