Esquire’s Charlie Pierce nailed Politico when he dubbed it “Tiger Beat on the Potomac.”
Politico's “ 'Some Say,' Some Said” approach to the news is very troubling. I know I’ve mentioned Katie Glueck’s Politico stint (she’s now with the NYTimes) beat was speculation and innuendo presented as informal polling from unnamed sources; each statement used a different word for “said.” For me Glueck's finest work was an epic post where she used “asseverated” — I had to look it up in several dictionaries. Wrote it down on a post-it note on my desk I was so gob-smacked.
It's not just Tiger Beat On The Potomac that uses the "Some say/Some said" BS that always turns out to be Republican Talking Points. It's all of the Corporate Controlled Conservative Press in the US that utters that phrase as if they were Chatty Cathy dolls and the Mercers pull the strings in their backs...
The Washington Post has run two top of the page articles about Democrats stridently opposing Biden about his handing of the Israeli-Palestianian conflict. Not only were they hyping their “Democrats in disarray” theme but they were making that the issue as if that is a more important story than the very real, serious problems behind the current conflict are.
As for Biden’s temper I am sick of articles condemning people for getting angry without telling us what they get angry about. I, for one, am a big believer in righteous anger a la Jesus’s anger with the money changers at the temple, turning over tables and driving them out with a whip. If Biden’s fury was directed at Bibi or McConnell, or McCarthy or the death of George Floyd, Brionna Taylor, etc., etc., etc. I have no problem with it. If he is unfairly berating little people then that is another matter.
My dad was a hero with the women he worked with because he tore another doctor a new one for being verbally abusive to the nurses.
Politics is about compromise either w/in the Democratic Party or among D constituencies, ie positions are all over the place w/in a common sense of values. Disarray should be nixed as a lazy describer and replaced w/ debate, disagreement, conversation; governing is a complicated process of deliberation, old fashioned arm twisting etc. that takes time and IDEALLY leads to legislation. Because it doesn’t happen to fit neatly into the news cycle shouldn’t short cut journalists’ stories w/easy tropes, ie the Dems are in disarray. Boring. Enraging. It’s all about the gossip now. Yuck.
The Democrats are intelligent and committed to governing. Party make up is also diverse. I would expect to read or hear differences of opinions based arguments made in good faith.
As for fabrication of tales about Vice President Harris, sad to say those of us who closely followed Hillary Clinton's career are all to familiar with biased scripts about powerful Democratic women. The Beltway Political Propatainment Complex is giddy because with Vice President Harris they get a twofer target - a powerful, accomplished woman who is also Black and AAPI. It's non stop Eleventy!!!!
“I’m not sure why and I’m not sure if that’s ever happened before,” King said.
How could anybody not be sure why the professor behind The 1619 Project would be denied tenor by a Southern university? That strains credulity almost as much as Politico's overheated and baseless headline writing.
Thanks Eric. The DC Press failed us during the previous 5 years. Don't take my word for it, just look at the scandals revealed since that administration left. (Subpoena journalists much?)
But this morning demands a shout-out to AP reporter Jim Mustain who after 2 years finally exposed the Louisiana State Police cover-up of the May 10, 2019 murder of Ronald Greene. I imagine the dozens of time Mr. Mustain, and the AP, ran into a wall trying to get the facts about the fabricated official police version.
Read Eric’s book “Lapdogs: How the Press Rolled Over for Bush” or Gene Lyons book “Fools for Scandal” about media malpractice in the Clinton years or or Eric Alterman’s “On Bended Knee: The Press and the Reagan Presidency. The DC press has been failing us for a very long time.
It's sad that there are many courageous, excellent reporters. The most prosperous and publicized unfortunately are the "pundits" who have way too much power when it comes to defining the conversation about politics and government.
Pardon this segue, but there was a recent piece about Kamala Harris in the Atlantic written by Edward - Isaac Dovere I found problematic. Sources were cited, many anonymously, but the tone of the piece forced me to read it twice to see if my unease with it had any basis. I concluded Dovere gave us a squishy view of what she’s learning/not learning about her 4 month old job; tone deaf and shallow reporting imo. Seemed to me he was fishing for something to criticize but came up w/empty fluff eg the WH keeping her away from cameras because ‘she’s dull, cautious; she’s no longer available to friends; what is her job anyway? ‘ I don’t remember a profile of Pense this early in his term questioning his role, purpose, dullness. Dovere’s piece finally came alive when he talked about Kamala’s MANY positive contributions within the administration; the rest seemed forced. Maybe it’s a man writing a profile of a woman, but Dovere didn’t do Harris nor himself any favors writing about the Vice President in this way so early into her term and, in my view, discredited the writer’s seriousness having written so much about her and coming up empty.
Re: Politico, more kudos to Eric. The contortions they put themselves thru to find fault with Biden are ridiculous, no there, there. Their headlines do a disservice to the writers, as often one has nothing to do with the content of the piece. I’ve searched articles for mentions from headlines and they don’t exist. Shameful. Time for Politico to decide what it wants to be when it grows up.
Need I repeat myself about the DC political media brothel? There's a reason Charlie Pierce refers to Politico as Tiger Beat on the Potomac.
As for Professor Hannah-Jones, since I'm in that line of work and on the Professor Watchlist for something I said on Facebook that I did not say in class, and I know of one right-winger who tried to get a friend of mine killed for expressing views contrary to what he believed and he was able to enlist a so-called journalist's help to do it, why am I not surprised?
There are several “news” sources that are complete bull crap and conjecture. Politico is on that list. I remember them sending reporters across the world to find dirt on Hillary but Trump was treated with kid gloves. I enthusiastically ignore them.
“I’m not sure why and I’m not sure if that’s ever happened before,” King said.
How could anybody not be sure why the professor behind The 1619 Project would be denied tenor by a Southern university? That strains credulity almost as much as Politico's overheated and baseless headline writing.
Long time frequent fliers remember the drastic changes in customer service the airline industry suffered as the bean counters took over operational management in the late 70's and early 80's.Today's PressRun makes me wonder if the publishers, under pressure from the lawyers and accountants,
are infiltrating the news rooms and have taken over writing the headlines.
Politico is just a rag these days. I had to get knocked over the head a few times with their bizarre take on something which they were attempting to sell to readers to put them on my 'Do NOT READ ANYTHING FROM THIS SCORCE list.
Esquire’s Charlie Pierce nailed Politico when he dubbed it “Tiger Beat on the Potomac.”
Politico's “ 'Some Say,' Some Said” approach to the news is very troubling. I know I’ve mentioned Katie Glueck’s Politico stint (she’s now with the NYTimes) beat was speculation and innuendo presented as informal polling from unnamed sources; each statement used a different word for “said.” For me Glueck's finest work was an epic post where she used “asseverated” — I had to look it up in several dictionaries. Wrote it down on a post-it note on my desk I was so gob-smacked.
Charlie Pierce is a gem, good old fashioned reporter.
It's not just Tiger Beat On The Potomac that uses the "Some say/Some said" BS that always turns out to be Republican Talking Points. It's all of the Corporate Controlled Conservative Press in the US that utters that phrase as if they were Chatty Cathy dolls and the Mercers pull the strings in their backs...
Amen.
The Washington Post has run two top of the page articles about Democrats stridently opposing Biden about his handing of the Israeli-Palestianian conflict. Not only were they hyping their “Democrats in disarray” theme but they were making that the issue as if that is a more important story than the very real, serious problems behind the current conflict are.
As for Biden’s temper I am sick of articles condemning people for getting angry without telling us what they get angry about. I, for one, am a big believer in righteous anger a la Jesus’s anger with the money changers at the temple, turning over tables and driving them out with a whip. If Biden’s fury was directed at Bibi or McConnell, or McCarthy or the death of George Floyd, Brionna Taylor, etc., etc., etc. I have no problem with it. If he is unfairly berating little people then that is another matter.
My dad was a hero with the women he worked with because he tore another doctor a new one for being verbally abusive to the nurses.
Not sure abt this media narrative that all Dems must agree re: Middle East...why?
Politics is about compromise either w/in the Democratic Party or among D constituencies, ie positions are all over the place w/in a common sense of values. Disarray should be nixed as a lazy describer and replaced w/ debate, disagreement, conversation; governing is a complicated process of deliberation, old fashioned arm twisting etc. that takes time and IDEALLY leads to legislation. Because it doesn’t happen to fit neatly into the news cycle shouldn’t short cut journalists’ stories w/easy tropes, ie the Dems are in disarray. Boring. Enraging. It’s all about the gossip now. Yuck.
The Democrats are intelligent and committed to governing. Party make up is also diverse. I would expect to read or hear differences of opinions based arguments made in good faith.
As for fabrication of tales about Vice President Harris, sad to say those of us who closely followed Hillary Clinton's career are all to familiar with biased scripts about powerful Democratic women. The Beltway Political Propatainment Complex is giddy because with Vice President Harris they get a twofer target - a powerful, accomplished woman who is also Black and AAPI. It's non stop Eleventy!!!!
The most recent thing I saw was an article about complaints that Harris is not emphasizing her Asian roots and identifies more as black. Okey dokey!
Yuck
Good question. Debate over substantive issues is what healthy democracies do. Too bad the media thinks following in lockstep is more desirable.
“I’m not sure why and I’m not sure if that’s ever happened before,” King said.
How could anybody not be sure why the professor behind The 1619 Project would be denied tenor by a Southern university? That strains credulity almost as much as Politico's overheated and baseless headline writing.
good pt!
DUH 🙄.
Thanks Eric. The DC Press failed us during the previous 5 years. Don't take my word for it, just look at the scandals revealed since that administration left. (Subpoena journalists much?)
But this morning demands a shout-out to AP reporter Jim Mustain who after 2 years finally exposed the Louisiana State Police cover-up of the May 10, 2019 murder of Ronald Greene. I imagine the dozens of time Mr. Mustain, and the AP, ran into a wall trying to get the facts about the fabricated official police version.
Well done. DC pool? Are you watching?
oh thanks, I’ll take a look
It’s a horrifying story.
Read Eric’s book “Lapdogs: How the Press Rolled Over for Bush” or Gene Lyons book “Fools for Scandal” about media malpractice in the Clinton years or or Eric Alterman’s “On Bended Knee: The Press and the Reagan Presidency. The DC press has been failing us for a very long time.
The press has been in GOP BS mode ever since they had they knives out for Jimmy Carter.
It's sad that there are many courageous, excellent reporters. The most prosperous and publicized unfortunately are the "pundits" who have way too much power when it comes to defining the conversation about politics and government.
Well said!! So true.
Pardon this segue, but there was a recent piece about Kamala Harris in the Atlantic written by Edward - Isaac Dovere I found problematic. Sources were cited, many anonymously, but the tone of the piece forced me to read it twice to see if my unease with it had any basis. I concluded Dovere gave us a squishy view of what she’s learning/not learning about her 4 month old job; tone deaf and shallow reporting imo. Seemed to me he was fishing for something to criticize but came up w/empty fluff eg the WH keeping her away from cameras because ‘she’s dull, cautious; she’s no longer available to friends; what is her job anyway? ‘ I don’t remember a profile of Pense this early in his term questioning his role, purpose, dullness. Dovere’s piece finally came alive when he talked about Kamala’s MANY positive contributions within the administration; the rest seemed forced. Maybe it’s a man writing a profile of a woman, but Dovere didn’t do Harris nor himself any favors writing about the Vice President in this way so early into her term and, in my view, discredited the writer’s seriousness having written so much about her and coming up empty.
Re: Politico, more kudos to Eric. The contortions they put themselves thru to find fault with Biden are ridiculous, no there, there. Their headlines do a disservice to the writers, as often one has nothing to do with the content of the piece. I’ve searched articles for mentions from headlines and they don’t exist. Shameful. Time for Politico to decide what it wants to be when it grows up.
Agreed re: that Atlantic piece. Very odd tone
Thx for confirming, Eric; wasn’t sure if it was him/Mr. Devore or me.
When in doubt always go with your first instinct (the "journalist").
Need I repeat myself about the DC political media brothel? There's a reason Charlie Pierce refers to Politico as Tiger Beat on the Potomac.
As for Professor Hannah-Jones, since I'm in that line of work and on the Professor Watchlist for something I said on Facebook that I did not say in class, and I know of one right-winger who tried to get a friend of mine killed for expressing views contrary to what he believed and he was able to enlist a so-called journalist's help to do it, why am I not surprised?
Wow. I'm not surprised either.
There are several “news” sources that are complete bull crap and conjecture. Politico is on that list. I remember them sending reporters across the world to find dirt on Hillary but Trump was treated with kid gloves. I enthusiastically ignore them.
Funny how so many of them migrated to New York Slimes.
As expected, Tiger Beat On The Potomac (Tip o' the hat to Charlie Pierce) continues to be a key component of the Republican 24/7 BS Machine
somehow it’s getting worse? which I wasn’t sure was possible
“I’m not sure why and I’m not sure if that’s ever happened before,” King said.
How could anybody not be sure why the professor behind The 1619 Project would be denied tenor by a Southern university? That strains credulity almost as much as Politico's overheated and baseless headline writing.
Long time frequent fliers remember the drastic changes in customer service the airline industry suffered as the bean counters took over operational management in the late 70's and early 80's.Today's PressRun makes me wonder if the publishers, under pressure from the lawyers and accountants,
are infiltrating the news rooms and have taken over writing the headlines.
Politico is just a rag these days. I had to get knocked over the head a few times with their bizarre take on something which they were attempting to sell to readers to put them on my 'Do NOT READ ANYTHING FROM THIS SCORCE list.
Great episode!