Nesrie
3084
Yeah I am reading that too. For many states… but the initial thought was patients, as in not employees of health systems or these higher up people jumping lines to get vaccines they keep telling the public is a hoax, would not really start getting them until late spring or summer, but now there’s been talk as early as late January. That’s a big shift.
This has been going on for a bit now but hasn’t gotten a mention here. The NY Times has had to retract most of an entire podcast series (and return a Peabody award) because it turns out one of the major sources for the series made everything up.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/12/20/caliphate-retraction-wont-end-new-york-timess-woes/
As the Post piece notes, there had been warning signs about the reporter involved in this going back to 2014. Which were ignored. As one reporter put it, "[The Times] discouraged people from using the fire alarm, and when some of us did use the fire alarm anyhow, we found the alarm was not connected to anything.”
That could be the epitaph for the entire Dean Baquet era. Baquet is retiring at the end of the year, and doubtless there will be the usual paeans to him as he heads for a comfortable exit. But let’s not forget the reality of his tenure: on many occasions during the last few years, the Times has made serious errors of judgement, which were widely pointed out by the rest of the world. These were acknowledged by the Times’s management, which then … kept right on making serious errors of judgement.
I see the Times learned nothing from Jayson Blair.
Enidigm
3087
The basic problem is that they just carte blanche trusted their primary reporter’s judgement, and the primary reporter believed the story she wanted to believe even when there was evidence putting it into doubt.
I think it’s just part of this problem of today where a lot of social media thought isn’t really investigative but descriptive - we already know the answer, we just want an edifying journey as the question. We all sort of knew where this story was going to go - you’re not going to suddenly discover a podcast about ISIS being the good guys.
“She’s a powerful reporter who we imbued with a great deal of power and authority,” Baquet said in a wide-ranging interview about the debacle. "She was regarded at that moment as, you know, as big a deal ISIS reporter as there was in the world. And there’s no question that that was one of the driving forces of the story.
But it’s also a problem of sunk cost - it’s hard once something has become “big” to back out and admit you’re wrong. And often these kinds of investigative podcasts are ongoing developments, not finalized and vetted conclusions.
WSJ publishes a Christmas editorial defending Scrooge. Seriously.
Rather on brand for the WSJ…
(I anticipate a very amusing ratio)
Media finally treats Trump like they should have 4 years ago.
Rather’s been shouting from the wilderness for a while. He’s retired, I think?
JD
3092
He is. And yeah, he hasn’t been one to mince words on Trump.
The media continues to agree its not terrorism if you’re a white male. It’s probably just economic anxiety.
That’s clearly been the pattern, but I think this one is not terrorism because there is no indication that he had any social/ political intent. That’s part of the literal definition of terrorism – the intent matters, as well as the act. So far, this looks like a dramatic suicide.
If anything comes out about him being a 5G loon or some other kind of conspiracy theorist, my opinion will of course change. We just haven’t seen this.
How is it not terrorism? You don’t blow yourself up in public unless you are trying to make a statement…
None of us know what the statement is.
Nesrie
3097
Terrorism doesn’t have a single definition, no really. Look at the FBI, CIA, any government agency really, and the definition will be slightly different.
I mostly agree with this though.
There is usually some sort of politician demand or statement, a tangible want with terrorism that you could but never really would cave in to. Which is different from say a cult that tries to lead us to the end times and make their leader a god or something.
The man left behind a message of warning. I’m assuming there are other messages they’re just not releasing yet.
Nesrie
3100
Every time some politician or official sends out a comment about stopping the violence from the left and right, the media needs to call them out. This is not the left, and if it was, they would be beaten, shot and potentially shot… not “cleared” out.
Right up to the bitter end.
Take it away Ms. Bash.
BUT WAIT. IT GETS BETTER.
That’s right: NEW TONE. And it’s not even satire.
And in the theme of (useless I know) what ifs, here’s Eric Boehlert articulating exactly how it feels watching the media these past five years.
Trump’s crowning disgrace — how the media enabled four years of terror
https://pressrun.media/p/trumps-final-disgrace-and-how-the
- What if the press had taken Trump’s coup attempt more seriously over the last two months, instead of waving his strategy off as “performance art” and “bad sportsmanship”? What if news dispatches had regularly used “sedition,” “treason,” and “coup” to accurately describe the unfolding crisis? What if news that Trump had discussions about imposing martial law with advisors in a West Wing meeting had sparked banner headlines and widespread media calls for resignation?
