Journalism is one of those professions for which there is zero barrier to entry – just declare yourself to be a journalist and *poof*, you are one. That doesn’t apply if you’re a conservative, but that’s pretty much all it takes if you’re liberal. Just think of all the “new” left-wing outlets started in the last few years: Semafor, Puck, Punchbowl, and whatever other stupidly named glorified blogs some liberal billionaire funded to be a plaything. They’re everywhere, not to mention how every out-of-work former journalist now has a Substack, which they count as making them real "Journalists" like they're Pinocchio.
The problem is, very few of them actually do the job of a journalist, or they do it very poorly. You’d think with the resources of one of the world’s richest men – Jeff Bezos – the Washington Post would be better than a random blog. It is not.
I don’t know what the editors there get paid, nor do I care; all I know is whatever it is, they are not worth it.
A case in point is a piece that ran this week entitled, “U.S. officials privately advise states fearing Trump election meddling.” It is not news, which is the reporting of what happened somewhere; this is future-casting what is essentially Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (NY-14) dream journal.
The entire premise of the story is that a group of people, who are never named or explained what they do, have been meeting with government officials at the state and federal level, who are also never named, to discuss ways in which President Trump might “interfere” with the election. We don’t know if some of these people are current government employees or if any of them are being paid. They claim to be non-partisan, but we know that’s garbage.
And everything in the story, which only quotes two named human beings explicitly for the story (a DHS spokesman is just called that and the Lt. Gov. of Utah is quoted from a story earlier in the month), is wild speculation that seems more out of a fantastically paranoid Rachel Maddow monologue than anything that would have to pass through an editor or two, and certainly not anyplace with standards.
Some gems in the story describe how the anonymous subjects (the “heroes”) are going about “their efforts indicate an extraordinary level of concern that Trump may use his authority to influence the election or challenge the results.”
Then there is this: “Their warnings are based on personal analysis of the administration’s activities and public statements made by the president and his allies — not access to specific government intelligence or information to which they have access because of their positions within federal agencies, members of the group said.” Shocking that they would swear they aren’t using any classified or privileged material, isn’t it? And why would they lie? Why would they answer a question they weren’t asked?
My favorite paragraph in the whole piece is, “This report is based on interviews, conducted over several months, with two officials involved in the effort. They spoke on the condition of anonymity and that the lawmakers and state leaders with whom the group has met not be identified either, for fear of retaliation. The Washington Post also reviewed some of the documents the group prepared for its meetings.”
They spoke with two people, for months, about other people they don’t seem to have contacted and can’t name (and likely don’t even know who they are, only taking the word of the TWO people they were talking to).
They also saw “documents the group prepared for its meetings.” Give me 20 minutes, and I could “prepare documents” for a meeting with President Trump and Elon Musk on Mars, or with the NHL about making me the new President of the league. You could not have a more meaningless standard if you tried.
Are there no editors at the Post anymore, or are there just no standards? I’d believe either, or even both.
Mr. Bezos, call your paper and impose some standards or relieve anyone who won’t institute and enforce some of the need for an alarm clock. I know you have more money than God, and congratulations on what you’ve built, but to do what you’ve done you have to have more sense than money, and your paper is denigrating all of it.
Derek Hunter is the host of the Derek Hunter Show on WMAL in Washington, D.C., and has a free daily podcast (subscribe!) and author of the book, Outrage, INC., which exposes how liberals use fear and hatred to manipulate the masses, and host of the weekly “Week in F*cking Review” podcast where the news is spoken about the way it deserves to be. Follow him on Twitter at @DerekAHunter.