Eric Boehlert: Politico shames WashPost columnist for calling out crummy Biden coverage

[babylonsister]

Politico shames WashPost columnist for calling out crummy Biden coverage
Beltway critiques not allowed
Eric Boehlert
59 min ago


snip//

The gotcha attack also featured Politico’s decision to print an email response Rubin had sent to its reporters, which she indicated was off the record. That move created lots of online chatter about what the guidelines surrounding “off the record” are and if the outlet went out of its way to try to burn Rubin.

For me though, the clear take-away was that a Beltway columnist who writes unapologetically about how the political press often produces awful journalism while covering Biden — the way it hugs the Both Sides narrative and gets played by the GOP — she was thrown a high-and-tight brush-back pitch. Politico sent a message to Beltway insiders that it’s not okay to question the collective Biden coverage. It’s not okay, as Rubin has done, to call out the media’s completely over-the-top and borderline hysterical Afghanistan coverage. And it’s not okay to deride Politico’s brand of click bait journalism, as Rubin likes to do.

Forget about the silly “symbiosis” nonsense that Politico was pushing, since it’s quite normal for an administration to try to boost its advocates in the press when engaging in public debate. The point of the attack piece was to diminish an important voice who has been making Beltway insiders look bad by highlighting media malpractice during Biden’s first eight months in office.

In short, Rubin’s guilty of breaking a DC cardinal rule for the press: Don’t hold each other accountable. And certainly don’t hold journalists accountable when doing it from the left. There’s a reason why there was so little self-reflection after the 2016 election, when the male-dominated political press created an ugly double standard for the first woman nominee.

A long-standing Beltway tradition is that the elite media do not have to answer to progressive critics, and certainly do not have to concede mistakes. Instead, a defensive posture is struck and newsrooms defend their own, even when they come under fire for obvious blunders. But that’s harder to do when voices from inside, like Rubin’s, are the ones calling for accountability. If a columnist for the Washington Post can so clearly find fault with the Biden coverage, that makes it difficult for the Beltway press to claim its coverage is fine and that only fringe voices are being critical.

more...

https://pressrun.media/p/washpost-columnist-attacked-for-calling

[Kid Berwyn]

1. Excellent analysis.

And some wonder why the rich keep getting richer and the poor you know.

[Budi]

2. A refreshing hint of a demand for truth in journalism

[spanone]

3. K&R

Last edited Mon Sep 20, 2021, 09:19 AM - Edit history (1)

The media is not our 'friend'

[UpInArms]

4. From Rubin's column

When Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) appears on the Sunday shows, the host should remind the audience he supported the lawless president in two elections, twice refused to vote to remove him and failed to call out his serial lying. That’s relevant, for example, when McConnell accuses the current administration of lesser offenses.

When House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) opines on the administration, he should be asked why he still opposes investigation into the domestic terrorist attack on Jan. 6 and why he still seeks the approval or counsel of the president who sparked the violence. He should be read the latest screed from characters such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and asked why they are still in the caucus.

In sum, Republicans who have brought us to this point — where anti-vaccine delusion, racist replacement theory and Jan. 6 denial are standard fare from Republican officials and candidates — should not be permitted to escape accountability for their past or to present themselves as credible defenders of democracy. That, of course, would require the media and political class to give up the canard that today’s GOP is just another political party, rather than a dangerous cult that undermines American democracy.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/09/13/republicans-cannot-duck-responsibility-trump/

[KS Toronado]

5. Thanks for this information

[PatSeg]

14. It still blows my mind

that Jennifer Rubin has become the sane voice of reason in Washington DC. Somehow, Donald Trump brought out the best in her as a journalist. There was a time when I couldn't have believed that I would agree with her so often. Good for her, calling out other DC journalists. It needed to be done.

[czarjak]

21. Too bad she's too little too late?

[PatSeg]

24. And too bad that not more

conservative journalists didn't speak up for four years. The characters of some people has really been revealed.

[WHITT]

6. Exemplified

Last edited Mon Sep 20, 2021, 09:51 AM - Edit history (1)

RICH LOWRY:

...But I focus in on the border and Afghanistan. Because they're both, to some significant extent, self-inflicted. They're national embarrassments. And they give a sense that events are out of control. And if, I don't think we're here yet, but if this kind of slide continues, the risk to Biden is a raps that would stick with people would be, "Decent guy, but not up for the job." And that's what they have to try to avoid at all costs.


CHUCK TODD:

There's a certain one-term Democratic President that would be described that way I believe from the late '70s in Mr. Carter.

Nevermind that NBC's own polling indicates no such "slide", as Biden's numbers are within the margin of error of the very polls Todd has been flogging,

As to the disingenuous Lowry, Donnie is on his sixth year of being a "national embarrassment", yet did he or anyone else in the MSM lament he was destined to only serve one term eight months in, or at any time of the previous four years?

And of course, 'the border and Afghanistan' are NOT "national embarrassments". The GOP and the American RightWing are worldwide embarrassments.

[PatSeg]

15. "Decent guy, but not up for the job"?

Seriously? These people don't know what a competent president is. And as for Chuck Todd, why does HE still have a job at MSNBC? He is a "national embarrassment" as a journalist - "decent guy, but not up for the job". Okay, maybe not that decent.

[WHITT]

20. Come On Lowry

If ANBODY wasn't "up to the job", clearly it was Donnie.

Among so many other countless ways, causing the deaths of more Americans than any other occupant of the White House, kinda seals the deal.

You're number one Donnie, you're finally number one.

[PatSeg]

23. Yes, how bad does a president have to be

for them to be justifiably outraged and how competent does a president have to be for them to give him/her credit. Biden hasn't just been an effective president in comparison to Donald Trump, he has surpassed many presidents that have come before him. Some journalists need to find another career.

[mn9driver]

7. It's almost as if the majority of big media outlets are owned

by big money that has a vested interest in the war industry. Biden spoiled their lovely and profitable little 20 year war, and the punditry has been directed to make him pay.

But of course, it would be silly to think that way. Right?

[jaxexpat]

18. Thank you very much. Well said and worth repeating.

Applause for any who dare infer that the "business" of America is in the hands of wealth and power that, let's face it, is indubitably multinational and concerned wholly with it's own preservation. The media, around the world, is simply another of their tools. There is no expense too great nor price too high to maintain their pre-eminence. Is it any wonder that when a socially disruptive innovation, one that may improve the lives of people but does not, at least initially, deal the powerful into the game, there follows, shortly after, a media deluge of fear/hate mongering, built of whole cloth, and a threatened shift toward totalitarianism?

Plus it's fun playing the planet like a board game.

Trump thinks he's in that crowd.

Oh, and what I term "socially disruptive innovation", is not a reference to the WWW or Facebook. I'm referring to concepts of magnitude like peaceful racial integration, free and open geopolitical borders and markets, sensible international arms control and other stuff which threatens the existence of the powerful.

[plimsoll]

8. It will be interesting to see what happens to Rubin.

I was never a huge fan of hers, but she's pointed out a couple things here.

1) the clickbait "journalism" that pervades the online media.
2) the asymmetrical application of "both sides."

It will be interesting because her ultimate employer can squash politico pretty easily. Will attacking Rubin cause the Bezotron to point it's steely gaze at the advertising revenue for Politico? Google may choose to continue to aggregate for Politico, but would they want to lose Amazon revenue themselves?

Continued existence for Politico will probably expose the funding sources that mold their perspective. I don't think the ecosystem can really tolerate another Newsmax, OANN, or Fox. Without your advertising dollars they have to show you who decides.

[Historic NY]

9. Wasn't Politico bought out recently?

[Celerity]

12. Politico Acquired by German Media Company Axel Springer for North of $1 Billion

https://variety.com/2021/digital/news/politico-acquired-axel-springer-1235049665/

Aug 26, 2021

German publishing group Axel Springer announced an agreement to acquire Politico, the 15-year-old digital political news outlet, a deal sources told Variety was worth slightly more than $1 billion. The price of the acquisition wasn’t disclosed. Politico’s owner, Robert Albritton, had been seeking $1 billion for the company, the New York Times reported earlier this month. Axel Springer’s deal for Politico includes the remaining 50% share of the companies’ current joint venture Politico Europe, as well as the more recently launched tech news website Protocol. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021, subject to regulatory approval.

The sale of Politico comes less than a week after broadcast TV group Nexstar Media bought The Hill, a Politico competitor, for $130 million. Meanwhile, business publisher Forbes on Thursday announced plans to go public via a merger with Magnum Opus, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) sponsored by private investment firm L2 Capital, that would give the new entity an implied enterprise value of $630 million. BuzzFeed, Group Nine Media (whose investors include Axel Springer) and Redbox are among media and entertainment companies that recently have gone the SPAC route to public markets.

Under Axel Springer’s ownership, Allbritton will continue as publisher of Politico and Protocol. The editorial and management leadership teams of Politico in the U.S., Politico Europe and Protocol will remain in place and will continue to operate their publications separately from Axel Springer’s other U.S.-based brands, the German company said. The deal augments Axel Springer’s U.S. footprint, which includes Business Insider (which it bought in 2015 in a deal valuing Insider at $442 million) and Morning Brew, a business-focused digital publication.

Axel Springer and Politico have been joint venture partners since 2014, when they launched Politico Europe. According to Axel Springer, Politico Europe has been profitable since 2019. “Politico’s outstanding team has disrupted digital political journalism and set new standards. A true North Star,” Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner said in announcing the pact. “It will be a privilege and a special responsibility to help shape the future of this outstanding media company.”

snip

[Celerity]

10. Politico also broke a long standing professional courtesy rule about 'off the record' communiques

this is from their article:

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/west-wing-playbook/2021/09/16/the-jennifer-rubin-wh-symbiosis-494364

[Celerity]

11. Politico broke a long standing professional courtesy rule about 'off the record' communiques

this is from their article:

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/west-wing-playbook/2021/09/16/the-jennifer-rubin-wh-symbiosis-494364

[Paladin]

13. So Politico still sucks? Thanks for the update. (nt)

[JohnSJ]

16. It is a good analysis, but the way it is written, I don't think criticism of the media's

over exaggerated negative coverage of Biden, especially related to Afghanistan, is going to resonate with those where it needs to.

[BumRushDaShow]

17. Well with the prolific use of links to Politico's drivel happening on DU

it is helpful to confirm why many DUers react the way they do when it is used for any meaningful "analysis".

[JohnSJ]

19. Absolutely

[DallasNE]

22. A Consequence Of Both Sides Journalism

Is that those journalists have blood on their hands related to the excess deaths from Covid. They are failing the American people in a big way. They have become accessories. Two weeks in a row Chuck Todd has only had Republicans as guests. That goes beyond both sides journalism and into censorship. It is the will of the conservative ownership of media. It is undemocratic corruption brought about by deregulation. Money corrupts everything and it leaves blood on the hands of those that willingly engage in it.

[Hekate]

25. I hope Jennifer Rubin's job is safe; she certainly is an asset to the truth

[crickets]

26. Kick for the evening crowd. nt

[MustLoveBeagles]

27. K&R