From the Journ-O-List to the Ignore List

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.

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.”

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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.

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