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The Spectacle Blog
Don’t make excuses for the Journolisters. They subverted journalism and the pursuit of truth for politics and the pursuit of power.
John Tabin has entered the fray over Journolist, the now-defunct secret listserve of several hundred liberal journalists, activists and academics. Tabin agrees that much of what the Daily Caller has reported about this cabal is extremely troubling and reprehensible. To wit:
• the Journolisters’ attempt, during the 2008 presidential campaign to kill and bury stories about Obama’s relationship with “Reverend” Jeremiah Wright;
• their push to deliberately smear innocent conservative journalists and politicos as “racists” and “bigots”;
• their twisted passion to see Rush Limbaugh killed off and dead;
• their intolerant desire to have the government censor and shut down Fox News; and
• their baldly partisan effort to coordinate liberal talking points that would discredit Sarah Palin and John McCain, while helping to elect Barack Obama president.
Now, Tabin agrees that this is all very bad and certainly wrong for journalists who purport to be independent and fair-minded. However, he insists, “these people were buffoons.” They were “utterly ridiculous” and thus should not be taken seriously.
I might agree with Tabin if the Journolisters were solitary bloggers venting in the backwoods in lonely isolation. But in point of fact, they were not. The Journolisters are professionally employed journalists who work at some of America’s most prestigious and influential newsrooms: the Washington Post, New York Times, National Public Radio, New Republic, Time, Newsweek, et al. Thus, they wield tremendous cultural clout and influence.
Sure, the execution of their efforts may have been “comical,” as Tabin suggests; however, their intent clearly was not. It was underhanded, deceptive and antithetical to everything a journalist is supposed to be and to represent.
The Journolisters’ intent was underhanded because their listserve and its contents were kept secret and hidden from public view. Yet, the Journolisters engaged the public dialogue, and the American people, under the guise of being nonpartisan truth seekers.
But thanks to the Daily Caller’s lone and courageous reporting — for which Jonathan Strong ought to get (but of course never will get) a Pulitzer Prize — we now know that this was a complete lie. The Journolisters were essentially political activists and political tools.
Indeed, they viewed themselves as members of an enlightened
and progressive Democratic Party team. And they went to
Journolist to find political support and intellectual sustenance.
Of course, the problem is not that the Journolisters had decided political opinions. Most journalists do, after all. I certainly do (although unlike the Journolisters, I lean to the right, not the far left). The problem is that these so-called journalists allowed their professional judgment and actions to be co-opted by partisan zeal and partisan hackery. And they did this in secret, unbeknownst, it seems, to their employers and the public.
I’m sorry, but I don’t find this “comical.” I find it disturbing — and also sadly telling about the state of the legacy media in America.
Tabin protests that not everyone on Journolist behaved in such an appalling fashion, only its “craziest members” like Spencer Ackerman. This may be true; however, it’s utterly irrelevant. Every political group or movement, after all, is led by a vanguard of activists who set its tone and agenda.
The fact is that Journolist was a secret left-wing cabal which deliberately excluded from its ranks anyone with known conservative views. It was an attempt, as even lefty blogger Andrew Sullivan has observed, to socialize liberal journalistic group think and to develop a common journalistic orthodoxy that would serve Barack Obama and the liberal agenda.
Did the Journolisters argue and debate amongst themselves? Of course they did. They sometimes disagreed over political tactics and how best to use their journalistic platforms to advance the goals and objectives of Barack Obama and the Democratic Party. They also disagreed about how best to demonize and discredit their (conservative) political opponents. But so what? What does this prove?
Well, Journolist coconspirator Jonathan Chait, for one, thinks this proves their innocence! But in fact, all it proves is that when it comes to propagandizing the public, liberal “journalists” have differing approaches or strategies. Some, like Wired magazine’s Spencer Ackerman, advocate a radical, in-your-face approach, while others, such as the Washington Post’s Ezra Klein, advocate a softer and more subtle approach.
But what Ackerman, Klein and most other Journolisters all have in common is a desire to subvert journalism and the pursuit of truth for politics and the pursuit of power. This makes them corrupt; and this makes the legacy media in which they work equally corrupt.
And, contra Tabin, all of the mundane and inane chatter on Journolist does not negate this corruption. To the contrary: it shows how commonplace and widely accepted such corruption has become in America’s elite newsrooms.
But thanks to the Internet, personal computers and smart phones, left-wing control of the media is fast coming to an end. The old order is collapsing; it is about to be overthrown; and a virtual media with new and more promising possibilities is fast emerging. Indeed, Journolist is the last gasp of a dying media empire. Good riddance.
View all comments (16) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by John R. Guardiano
http://spectator.org/blog/2010/07/23/journolist-equals-journalistic
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k962| 7.23.10 @ 5:39AM
Any doubts that the 2008 Obama camapign was manipulated by certain "journalists" is gone. This cabal of leftists are what the left is all about. Its hate and smear at every turn. They conspired to slander anybody that dare criticize Obama as "racist". Does anybody believe that it isn't still going on today?
Deborah D | 7.23.10 @ 8:00AM
Just as the "journolisters" hid the truth of what they were intending to do, so goes all of the left side of the political spectrum. Sunshine is the best disinfectant. Shine a light on all of the left because they have hidden in plain sight for at least 50 years. They can't handle it when the spotlight of truth is on them.
Just as Obama and company tried to take down Joe the Plumber for telling the truth, the journolisters wanted to take down a conservative (Barnes or Rove, who cares?) Just like the NAACP must hide their own bigotry by calling out the Tea Partiers.
Americans want truth, not propaganda. These journolisters should be shunned because they are not journalists, they are propagandists. Pravda, not American journalism. Americans are awakening to the lying media. They've lost their credibility, and now they know what it means when someone hit by their lies has to wonder "where do I go to get my reputation back."
I believe that's called "karma."
vinny| 7.23.10 @ 8:41AM
John,
While I agree with you in that journolistas are less comical than vile and dangerous, I disagree with your conclusion. I think it is wishful thinking when you state that their order is colapsing. I see their tactics and repeated talking points with sustained vigor on just about every MSM outlet. They have a hold on American news that is unshaken by the recent revelations. You are right in that the MSM is filled with lies and distortions and I do not believe that they are about to come clean. - Just wishful thinking about what you want your newspapers to be.
Grace| 7.23.10 @ 10:38AM
I cannot get over Journolister, Dr.Eric Alterman--a distinguished Brooklyn college professor-- calling people who disagree with him "retards." Alterman is a phony, pretending to be a man of the people. He is a person who scorns anyone not like him. I feel just utterly betrayed by him and this gang.
Oldefarte| 7.23.10 @ 11:34AM
Right on, direct hit inside the bullseye! However the thought that ".....And they did this in secret, unbeknownst, it seems, to their employers and the public..." is pure BULLEXCREMENT [their employers knew full well, and were/are co-conspirators in this BRAINWASHING OF AMERICAN READERS. Connect the dots: liberal college journalism,etc professors to journalism students graduation after four years of indoctrination by same to getting hired by NYT, CBS, NBC, ABC,etc to plying their liberalism craft daily inside the pages of every newspaper and magazine in America. This combined with Hollywood liberalism now cranking out movies/TV shows with subliminal messaging promoting the liberal agenda to our children patrons further inhances the propaganda infiltration into our public minds concerning their intended messaging. WAKE UP, AMERICA [and go vote in November]!!!!!!!!!!
Ken (Old Texican)| 7.23.10 @ 11:42AM
The clearest example I can name for these despicable so-called journalists is the montage Rush often plays on sound bites with multiple clones using the exact same "tag lines" in their so-called news casts.
Thank goodness for Rush, and for TAS and friends... and you fellow commentators here. Often the thoughts provoked in the comments are more fulfilling than the articles that provoke them.
Best regards
Nate| 7.23.10 @ 11:46AM
Your conflation of a few anecdotes about a select few journalists with Journalism itself is odd but transparent.
The reactionary -- from the nineteenth century down to today -- seeks to discredit those means by which people get actual information about the world. This is because the reactionary plays upon the authoritarian instincts of the mob, and it's desire for Uncle Rush to tell them what to do.
Reactionaries want you to distrust science, education, and journalism.
What do you think is more likely?
That tens of thousands of practitioners of journalism, scientists, and educators have formed an elaborate secret cabal to destroy America, OR that those who would have you suspect the motives of journalists, scientists, and teachers want to be able to pick and choose the information and insights the "knowledge class" has to offer?
Occam's Razor, my friends. Think about it.
Deborah D | 7.23.10 @ 12:44PM
Just the lefties in science, education and journalism. The fault of any suspicion of their professions lie with them (the left who are actually activists not journalists, scientists or educators). It is up to those not in cahoots with the left to purge these folks from their ranks. Just like other groups must purge racists.
Interloper| 7.24.10 @ 2:31AM
Democrats are Communists--they seek the overthrow of our Republic.
Ralph Novy| 7.26.10 @ 4:38PM
Mr. Guardiano:
Read http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....9485.html.
Then think.
Then either move on to a REAL story or shut the hell up.
KenInTexas| 7.26.10 @ 6:40PM
Well, Ralph, I am sure all of us will surely take your advise due to the Huffington Post's obvious unbiased approached to today's liberal agenda. This likens to the fox watching the hen house!