June 24, 2010
"This would be a vastly better world to live in if Matt Drudge decided to handle his emotional problems more responsibly, and set himself on fire."
Wrote the WaPo's Dave Weigel, who covers conservatives but writes things he's ashamed to see get beyond the confines of the lefty "Journolist" email list.
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61 comments:
What a scumbag.
Ah ha, has Althouse caused an "Althouselanche" on FishbowlDC? Or, is this a combination of Instapundit and althouse both linking to the same article?
Strange!Can't get fishbowldc to showup, it's stuck on itself!
Cheers!
I'm sure the WaPo is relieved to know there's no chance of their "conservative beat" reporter going native.
Seeing Megan McArdle's wedding guest list helps in understanding her blog. She's walking a tightrope between her libertarian inclinations and staying friends with the cool-kid progressives.
"Jounolist" is an inherently dishonest site for journalists to participate in. It involves coordinating opinions and actions behind the backs of readers, and then acting as though no coordination has taken place.
The members pretend to offer honest, independent reporting when in fact they are part of a clique that cooks the books in terms of what readers get to see.
They believe that everbody's secrets should be opened to the public--except their own.
"RIGHT NOW. Inside the conservative movement and the Republican Party with David Weigel."
"Inside," as in fucking them up the ass?
I don't recall any ink or pixels about why Weigel left Reason.com. Maybe we can draw some inferences from his WaPo articles?
The infamous JournoList is a really bad idea (see Mickey Kaus' archives about it on Salon), but it's unintended consequences are good. Merely being on this list identifies you as a liberal partisan hack who has an unhealthy proclivity to play inside ball. I hope it continues to leak.
Weigel's comments about Byron York and the Washington Examiner are beyond the pale. That made me lose all respect for Weigel. I hope conservatives and Republicans quit talking to him.
The political inclinations of liberals are never motivated by emotional problems!
There's something wrong with the members of "Journolist" if that's the normal standard of discourse.
er, Salon = Slate. One of those damn "S" sites anyway.
Well, it's no secret WaPo isn't interested in giving conservatives a fair shake. We won't miss it when it's gone.
He seems to be demeaning the Matt Drudge's method of passionate presentation of scoops that the Fossil Media are busy burying or ignoring altogether. Matt is a bad boy who even lets his feelings show. Shame, shame on you Matt. He apparently suggests WaPo should revert to Cotten Mather's method and burn witches.
She's got more influential friends than inclinations.
Scott - The infamous JournoList is a really bad idea (see Mickey Kaus' archives about it on [Slate])
Good stuff.
Assholes get good jobs too.
By all means, how dast Drudge have the temerity to expose the Leftists?
"off-the-record list-serv"
Ha ha.
Its the cynicism that really gets you.
Happy face to the public - catty unmensch in private.
His apology is pretty whiny. "I was incredibly frustrated with the amount of hate mail I was getting," He still thinks it's appropriate for a group of journalist to coordinate freezing out another news outlet by a kind of cyber-shunning. Then he does the classic non-apology apology feint, saying he's sorry if someone else thinks the term "Paultard" is offensive, but implying he doesn't think there's anything wrong with it.
I don't think Weigel should light himself on fire. He should just go get a PR job. He'd make more money, and nobody would be confused about what he is.
Ha! Wiegel thinks he's funny by inflicting an emotional epithet at Drudge while trying to posit the notion that Drudge should be more emotionally responsible and once that happens, then set himself on fire. Does these leftard fools even understand the words they textually babble?
Kaus-Bait.
I wasn't invited in this list!
I am happy about this. It means that leftist journalists are busily cocooning away, secure in their apparently unshakable collective belief that they can in their behind-the-scenes maneuverings persuade disaffected, barely-employed people in flyover country.
And that shit's not happening. But if they realized as much, they might alter their course.
The problem is not that the WaPo Conservative reporter hates conservatives. That's a given. The problem is the useful idiots and phony conservatives who talk to this guy and give him credibility and information.
Not a good idea to burn Matt Drudge.
Why would any journalist hate Drudge so much? You know they all check his page first thing every day. Drudge rocks.
Anyway, I noticed some other lame comments by this Weigel character over in a comments section of Reason's "Hit & Run" blog.
Like:
"It's impossible to read this and think I'm defending the congressman, unless you're one of the dozen or so Reason commenters who seethe with jealousy over my success as your mom reheats your dinner...."
And:
"Now if you'll excuse me, I have to return to my rewarding job and large circle of friends. I don't know how my ego will ever recover..."
Link
I've also noticed that when he appears on various MSNBC programs, like The Rachel Maddow Show, he blinks his eyes like a nervous mess.
Drudge has had by far the coolest news web site for over a decade now. Others have had all those years to try and beat him at his game, and no one has ever come close. He's amazing. A legend. An American media treasure.
I'm not sure I understand why Weigel felt so upset about Drudge. All Drudge did was shine a light on Weigel's propaganda on the story of a Congressman violently assaulting someone who merely asked him a question.
And Weigel is a propagandist. That's why he's on that list thingie, the whole purpose of which is to help leftist "journalists" orchestrate their propaganda.
I can see why that list hates Drudge. You just have to look at his site today, and see that picture of AlGore praying to Gaea (or whatever) and the associated headline "'CRAZED SEX POODLE'". And then, the picture above that with a headline "CHICAGOLAND BOMBSHELL: Obama knew plot to trade Cabinet post for appointing Jarrett to Senate -- Testimony..."
What a scumbag
Scumbag, Journalist, whats the difference?
Think of the conservative movement as Iraq and Journolist as the bar in the Baghdad Hilton, and it all snaps into focus.
drudge is the left's latest shoot-the-messenger punching bag. how providing links to news stories makes him evil is beyond me. he links more often to the new york times than the national review and yet he is still, somehow, the embodiment of the crazed, rightwing enemy in their addled minds.
I once argued that Drudge was not a conservative/libertarian, and I was amply and demonstrably proven wrong by an irregular commenter here. There's no question he is, and it's gotten a lot more biting lately. To which my response is:
1. What fun!
2. The leftists who bitch and whine still go to Drudge first every single day. What's that say about who is running the narrative show?
I agree with most of the comments on Drudge. He is the John Peter Zenger of this age. Almost all of his content is from mainstream media sources -- he just deconstructs their front pages and adds headlines. It's revolutionary, and subversive, and delicious.
Drudge's reputation is greatly enhanced by the fact that he doesn't belong to the New York-Washington news media complex. He is truly independent (unlike Weigel) and nobody can touch Drudge. Sidney Blumenthal has the best shot at him, but even that was weak. Like any good newspaper, Drudge retracts his errors.
And pompous dipshits like Weigel still haven't figured out why Drudge's site works.
(This has been an unusually good thread. What's in the water?)
As others have noted, I also believe Drudge is the first thing the entire media estabishment (and all DC politicians look at the first thing in the morning.
I suspect "traditional media" is incensed because they no longer control the message--Matt Drudge seems to. And the print media continues is downward spiral.
I have always been a bit baffled by the hatred the MSM and left have towards Drudge when the site itself is as benign as the Memphis Commercial Appeal. There might be a few snarky headlines but the site links to MSM stories and to their own sites. I have a feeling they don't go to Drudge every day just as they don't listen to Rush every day. Instead they hear that Drudge said this or that and don't consider that Drudge simply picked one of their own stories to highlight and snark.
Second string guys like this Weigel think they make points with the varsity by cracking wise about the wingnuts.
"Seeing Megan McArdle's wedding guest list helps in understanding her blog."
Yeah. I've read her stuff for some time, and it's always been clear that she's not nearly as 'libertarian' as she thinks she is -- she's merely a slightly left-of-center moderate surrounded by people far, far more establishment lefty than herself.
The "Weigel dancing at McArdle's wedding" anecdote is yet another example of the D.C. media-government complex. "Journalists", government, just one big happy incestuous family.
Does this mean that we can quote Weigel back to himself whenever he goes off on Malkin, Coulter, Rush, and the like? "I was incredibly frustrated with the amount of hate mail I was getting" means he will look upon their snark with that understanding heart we hear elitist liberals have, right?
Michael--Memphis guy here as well--(excuse thread hijack) but whats your take on the King Willie Cohen race?
Althouse - try to be accurate. Weigel says Journolist is an "off the record" listserve. It is not to be referred to as liberal.
Ironically, I cover liberals and believe the world we live in would be vastly better if Dave Weigel set himself on fire.
Roger: I am 30 years gone from Memphis so I am not much in touch with politics there. I gather that the wonderful city has succumbed completely to racial politics and that those living in town are urged to be very careful with their security precautions. When I was a boy there in the 60s I could travel downtown by bus and wander with absolutely no fear. I went to the main library on Front and went to Lansky Bros on Beale. Then the progressives tore down Beale and Vance and made way for the new world. I walked into the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee offices in 1963 or 1964, a white kid, and tried to join. I was invited to leave and pointed toward the NAACP office which in fact did let me join. The SNCC experience stuck with me.
Liberals have destroyed the news industry. It would be interesting to poll the Althouse readers to see what % still buy a daily newspaper.
Journolist - "No liberal bias here. Nothing to see, folks. Move along."
I think telling someone else to set themselves on fire is proof of emotional problems.
Franklin said...
"What a scumbag."
Yes. We all agree Drudge is a scumbag but I draw the line about setting himself on fire. .. particularly when others want to help him.
AJ Lynch said...
Liberals have destroyed the news industry."
Since when is FauxNoise news?
"It would be interesting to poll the Althouse readers to see what % still buy a daily newspaper."
Hey AJ, what is the biggest conservative rag? the Washington Times? about the 100th biggest paper in the nation.
Most newspapers are read on line now and have been for a while. The online reading of the Times is something like 20 to 1 in circulation. How do you account for that?
Since when is FauxNoise news?
Well at least they haven’t produced any stories about the use of “Nerve Gas” (CNN) or “National Guard Memo’s” (CBS) or admitted to covering up Saddam’s atrocities for access (CNN). Beyond that nice use of the cliché “Faux News,” but a little short on any supporting evidence.
Hey AJ, what is the biggest conservative rag? the Washington Times? about the 100th biggest paper in the nation.
Most newspapers are read on line now and have been for a while. The online reading of the Times is something like 20 to 1 in circulation. How do you account for that?
I don’t know, HD, how do YOU account for the declining value and share price of most of the large national papers? Seeing as how everyone reads them and all, or how do you account for the lay-offs, these papers being so economically successful, with all those readers, print and on-line?
As usual one of your poorly thought-out comments.
Wiegel is such a simpering wuss. Perfect dinner party "conservative" (read:Liberal). Every criticism or disagreement causes a huge emotional breakdown and everyone's supposed to run over and soothe the poor offendee. Reading JournOlist must be like reading an "emo" teen's blog.
As for the WaPo, it figures that a newspaper with a washed up go-go dancer/atheist writing their "On Faith" column would have a washed up blogger/squishy Lib writing their "From the Right" column.
HD House: HD you are famous!! Your wonderful post about General Betray Us being a right wing snark is quoted over at First Things. Good on you, dude, for holding up your side to ridicule.
Would be interested in your views of the horrors of today's Drudge Report. What un journalistic errors has Drudge made?
Hdhouse;
Sir, you are so f-ing brilliant. Maybe you missed the part where I wrote "buy" a daily newspaper not "read for free" online.
I have mixed feelings about the dead-tree news industry. The medium just isn't appropriate for breaking news anymore -- it lost that advantage with the birth of radio. And pulping trees for newsprint seems like a huge waste.
Yet printed paper is less ephemeral than excited pixels. Print is our memory. It's a thing that was created at a specific point in time.
We need the past to inform our present. Conservatives and libertarians recognize this; liberals and "progressives" don't.
Harry--you have achieved some degree of success in addition to your nine patents--considering your confusion about "betrayus" now some 3 billion people in the blogosphere know you are an idiot--thats some major shit, man. Congrats
And I am still awaiting your email about your scientific accomplishments. That was YOUR promise.
In those passages Weigel strikes me as the dorky kid who was finally allowed to hang around with the "cool kids" and tried a bit too hard. Those things read like what you or I would write if we were trolling.
I get the feeling from those that Weigel is the journalistic equivalent of the protagonist and that old Off Spring song "Pretty Fly for a White Guy". And that he even got on the people at journolists' nerves. And that is why they have been leaked.
Gee, another little wanna-be elitist lefty with violent fantasies about murdering conservatives.
Who could see that one coming...so funny, but just short of gauche.
The trendy crowd. I bet he wore a Che t shirt at some point in his awesome life.
Liberals are SOOOOO tolerant, not like those nasty reich-wing h8ers!
Hi Def;
AJ Lynch said...
Liberals have destroyed the news industry."
Since when is FauxNoise news?
"It would be interesting to poll the Althouse readers to see what % still buy a daily newspaper."
Hey AJ, what is the biggest conservative rag? the Washington Times? about the 100th biggest paper in the nation.
Most newspapers are read on line now and have been for a while. The online reading of the Times is something like 20 to 1 in circulation. How do you account for that?
A classic retort. Distilled down to its essence it says:
Oh yeah, well FOX NEWS....
And mine's bigger than yours
But it could used a few more "Repuglicans", "f**king _____'s", and a "Bush" or two
9:07 AM
Joe said...
"I don’t know, HD, how do YOU account for the declining value and share price of most of the large national papers.."
Gee Joe. Let's put on our thinking caps. First take a big dollar number, like $100 (total available ad dollars) and divide it by 100 (total fairly large newspapers). $1/paper right? with me so far?
Take monster, hotjobs, etc. and take away about $.20/paper cause that ad money that used to go to classified/help wanted no goes elsewhere. Now take print production costs which have, in the last 10 years gone up significantly; some from raw materials and some from distribution costs (gas, driver salaries, etc.) so knock another $.12 off. Now we are at $.68.
Factor in a recession where these little extras are some of the first things to go and companies generally stopped advertising expansion in 2008 when ad spends decreased about 14% from 2007. Getting the picture now?
It is a fool to think that it is the content that drives people from media outlets and forces them to dry up - it is the AD DOLLARS mainly and the cost of production that does it.
Honestly, this is like explaining something to a child.
HD: You are quite right that ad dollars drive the publishing business up or down and not content. But ad dollars are conversely driven by eyeballs and the fewer lookers the fewer ad buyers. Vicious cycle. Look at Vanity Fair magazine over the last five years. You could weigh them or measure their thickness and compare them month versus previous year's month and see a steep decline. Content is pretty much the same but their bottom line has got to be going to shit. Fewer eyeballs with discretionary income. That said, the paper model is going away, for newspapers at least, partly because of ad declines and partly because the content is available elsewhere and in bits that people find more useful.
AJ Lynch said...
Hdhouse;
Sir, you are so f-ing brilliant."
Thanks AJ...took you a while but you got the message...good for you fella. Sigh. Now if you would only learn your place.
Michael said...
HD: You are quite right that ad dollars drive the publishing business up or down and not content. But ad dollars are conversely driven by eyeballs and the fewer lookers the fewer ad buyers."
Unfortunately it isn't chicken and egg. You are right that it is an eyeballs:CPM thing but the outside factors - e.g. Internet, social, blogs etc., have so fragmented the audience that few have the share they once enjoyed unless they are small to begin with and carved out viewers in their niche. Newspapers and magazines don't have the luxury...well mags more than newspapers...but newspapers have constitutional duties which impact it greatly - in cost and diversity of readership -.
it is a troubling thing, particularly with blogs that are woefully quick to print and fast on the drawn...and there is little recourse for correction after getting something wrong - and why bother? there are more people online at any given time in the US confronted by news on their home page than live in any city or metro....
your point is well taken.
and a shoutout to C3..
c3 said...
"A classic retort. Distilled down to its essence it says: Oh yeah, well FOX NEWS....
And mine's bigger than yours"
Actually C3...I am of the opinion you are a way bigger dick than fauxnoise...like you are a huge dick compared to them.....you are even a bigger dick than Sean...and let me tell you something..that's sayin' a lot!
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