Ed Driscoll

By Ed Driscoll

Bio

Get Updates From Ed Driscoll

Will Collier tosses a journalist onto the ignore list:

A few weeks back, in yet another chapter of Big Media’s insistence on treating American conservatives like a tribe of unknown but likely dangerous savages from some far-off land (aka, Fly-Over Country), the Washington Post hired a guy named Dave Weigel to start a blog called “Right Now.” This was, of course, exactly the same thing as hiring juiceboxer Ezra Klein to write about the Left blogosphere, since Klein is a confirmed leftie, and Weigel is… um, well, let me just quote from Weigel’s blog today:

I’m a member of an off-the-record list-serv called “Journolist,” founded by my colleague Ezra Klein.

Advertisement

Per all the prior reporting on Klein’s little club (membership including such open-minded thinkers as Joe Klein, Eric Alterman and Paul Krugman), that makes Weigel another confirmed leftie–and based on the comments Weigel half-heartedly apologizes for in that blog post, a fairly nasty one at that.

Weigel’s personality aside, the fact that he’s a contributing member of Klein’s liberal propaganda-coordination clique should have been disclosed from the very beginning of Weigel’s “reporting” on conservatives. It says nothing good about either Weigel or his bosses at the WaPo that none of the above thought Weigel’s membership in a glorified version of Media Matters would be something worth notifying readers about.

All of which confirms my initial take on Weigel’s WaPo blog: “This one goes on the ignore list.”

No offense to Will, but potentially much worse for Weigel, as Stacy McCain writes, is going on Matt Drudge’s ignore list:

Rule One of Modern Journalism is, Don’t piss off Matt Drudge:

“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.”
David Weigel, e-mail to “Journolist”

Sigh. He also trashed Byron York and referred to Ron Paul supporters as “Paultards.” Both of which are very bad things to do, but probably not as career-damaging as pissing off Drudge. It doesn’t matter how big your scoop is. If Drudge won’t link you, you’re screwed.

Dave has tried to explain that he was getting buried in hate mail, etc., but I don’t know how — or even if — he can ever eat enough crow to repair this kind of self-inflicted career trauma.

Nevertheless, that crow ain’t gonna to eat itself. Chow down, buddy.

Or as Lachlan Markay writes at Newsbusters:

I feel [Weigel's] column often looks for ways that make conservatives look bad,” wrote [Newsbusters' Dan Gainor] in March, “while his opposite number, the Post’s Ezra Klein, is an open liberal and spends his time making the left look good.”Who knows, maybe that was the point all along.

It always is when the Washington Post is involved.

PJ Media appreciates your comments that abide by the following guidelines:

1. Avoid profanities or foul language unless it is contained in a necessary quote or is relevant to the comment.

2. Stay on topic.

3. Disagree, but avoid ad hominem attacks.

4. Threats are treated seriously and reported to law enforcement.

5. Spam and advertising are not permitted in the comments area.

These guidelines are very general and cannot cover every possible situation. Please don't assume that PJ Media management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment. We reserve the right to filter or delete comments or to deny posting privileges entirely at our discretion. Please note that comments are reviewed by the editorial staff and may not be posted immediately. If you feel your comment was filtered inappropriately, please email us at story@pjmedia.com.

3 Comments, 3 Threads

  1. I really don’t think Drudge is all that concerned. With apologies to the spirit of Jack Palance, Drudge craps bigger than Dave Weigel.

  2. 2. John

    From the paper where Kathleen Parker won a Pulitzer for her ‘conservative’ commentary, having Weigel as their go-to guy for online coverage of conservatives is pretty much par for the course (and the really scary thing is if you went into the Post’s newsroom and scratched a few longtime reporters, they no doubt believe that Dave’s one step removed from one of those Christo-fascist Tea Partiers, since he occasionally does throw a bone to the people he’s supposed to be covering).

  3. They hired a reporter who’s openly hostile to conservatives to run a conservative blog? Brilliant!

    He just resigned, BTW. Adios.

    Had his reportage been fair … or balanced … or good, his quips wouldn’t have mattered as much.