Bret Stephens plays the 'Darn Kids Today with their baggy jeans and hippty-hop music!' card today. Amazing that an editor didn't say 'Do you really want to do this?'
Earlier this month, a video of Joe Biden saying he had “no empathy” for “the younger generation” that “tells me how tough things are” resurfaced on social media. The video was over a year old, but it elicited predictable howls from members of the dissed demographic. “Nothing says ‘perfect candidate to lead the most powerful nation in the world’ like ‘I have no empathy,’” wrote someone with the Twitter handle @anarchopriapism.
My own reactionary reaction was different. O.K., I thought, I could definitely vote for Joe — provided he has the mettle to stand his ground.
It gets worse from there. Oh, and the twitter user he quotes? A real 'influencer'....with less than 100 followers.
They really needed to use this as his byline picture:
Re: (The End of) Journalism Thread
Posted: Sat May 18, 2019 10:45 am
by Joe K
Stephens isn’t even that old, he’s just exceptionally lazy intellectually. And Millenial-bashing is a genre of choice for lazy pundits.
Re: (The End of) Journalism Thread
Posted: Sat May 18, 2019 12:55 pm
by brian
Stephens was born in 1973. He's literally the same age (within a year) as like 10 of us in the Swamp.
Re: (The End of) Journalism Thread
Posted: Sat May 18, 2019 4:33 pm
by Pruitt
brian wrote: ↑Sat May 18, 2019 12:55 pm
Stephens was born in 1973. He's literally the same age (within a year) as like 10 of us in the Swamp.
Just a young (stupid) whelp to some of us.
Re: (The End of) Journalism Thread
Posted: Sun May 26, 2019 11:22 am
by DaveInSeattle
This article in today's Times is causing all kinds of uproar...
One of the best-known but least visible former members of President Trump’s White House staff is facing an existential question: whether to comply with a congressional subpoena in the coming weeks.
The aide, the former communications director Hope Hicks, who left the White House with an enduring mystique that inspired countless news media profiles, is now a private citizen living in California.
First off...they went with the glam shot for her:
Second...she's not quite the 'private citizen'...she's now the chief communications officer for Fox News.
Third....complying with a subpoena isn't an 'existential question'...its the law.
Re: (The End of) Journalism Thread
Posted: Sun May 26, 2019 12:31 pm
by Pruitt
DaveInSeattle wrote: ↑Sun May 26, 2019 11:22 am
Third....complying with a subpoena isn't an 'existential question'...its the law.
When do they start arresting people who ignore these subpoenas? Or are we now entering into a "post-law" era?
DaveInSeattle wrote: ↑Sun May 26, 2019 11:22 am
Third....complying with a subpoena isn't an 'existential question'...its the law.
When do they start arresting people who ignore these subpoenas? Or are we now entering into a "post-law" era?
I don't think it's clear Congress can even do that. Especially when there really *are* legitimate legal arguments that executive privilege and the nature of the constitutional setup exempts the President and White House staffers from being compelled to testify before Congress.
Re: (The End of) Journalism Thread
Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2019 2:00 pm
by sancarlos
Junior high school sancarlos mourns.
Re: (The End of) Journalism Thread
Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2019 2:23 pm
by Pruitt
sancarlos wrote: ↑Thu Jul 04, 2019 2:00 pm
Junior high school sancarlos mourns.
This makes me feel so BLECCCHH!
Only a slight exaggeration to say that MAD helped shape my world view.
Re: (The End of) Journalism Thread
Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2019 5:03 pm
by Pruitt
This says it all...
Re: (The End of) Journalism Thread
Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2019 6:02 am
by rass
Pruitt wrote: ↑Thu Jul 04, 2019 2:23 pm
Only a slight exaggeration to say that MAD helped shape my world view.
I definitely had a phase where I read them cover to cover (and margin to margin) and then would read them again and again.
Pruitt wrote: ↑Thu Jul 04, 2019 2:23 pm
Only a slight exaggeration to say that MAD helped shape my world view.
I definitely had a phase where I read them cover to cover (and margin to margin) and then would read them again and again.
Every month at school we'd get the brochures from the Scholastic Book Club. I always ordered whichever new MAD book was for sale. And let me just say "Blecchh!" in tribute to the usual idiots that put it all together.
If you're wondering how this affects me, it is probably good news for me! (These are my two most important accounts at work, so this will probably make me indispensable around the office for a year or so. Might be a good time to ask for a raise.)
Re: (The End of) Journalism Thread
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2019 9:54 am
by govmentchedda
Micro, yes, good. Macro, no, horrible.
Re: (The End of) Journalism Thread
Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 10:21 am
by EdRomero
One, he's an ass, and two, the framing of BUT TAXES GO UP every time a proposal to help Americans is presented is ever present in all of American media. With better healthcare, fewer people die, you'll have more productive members of society, and out of pocket expenses will dramatically decrease, but, yeah, the issue is my taxes might go up $100.
Re: (The End of) Journalism Thread
Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 10:35 am
by Ryan
It's like they had orchestrated the perfect set-up for her to say exactly that (which she was trying to do) but they forgot to have a smart person stand there instead of him.
Re: (The End of) Journalism Thread
Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 11:19 am
by Pruitt
The media just plays into the most simplistic talking points. As stated elsewhere, people's incomes disappear because of reasons other than taxes.
What idiocy. My God, if every non-rich American would just pick up the phone and call someone in Japan or Canada or France to talk about socialized medicine's costs, this horseshit would end.
Pruitt wrote: ↑Thu Jul 04, 2019 2:23 pm
Only a slight exaggeration to say that MAD helped shape my world view.
I definitely had a phase where I read them cover to cover (and margin to margin) and then would read them again and again.
I had a subscription for a lot of my elementary/junior high years.
Re: (The End of) Journalism Thread
Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 1:27 pm
by sancarlos
Mad was not afraid to get political. I actually occasionally learned from it.
Re: (The End of) Journalism Thread
Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2019 1:59 pm
by brian
Gatehouse/Gannett merger officially announced. Once upon a time, the two largest newspaper companies in the country merging might have warranted a review from the DOJ about monopoly concerns, but this should fly through.
The tweet seemed harmless enough to David Karpf. The associate professor of media and public affairs at George Washington University took a story that bedbugs had infested the New York Times newsroom as an occasion to dig at his least favorite Times writer, the conservative columnist Bret Stephens.
“The bedbugs are a metaphor,” Karpf wrote on Monday. “The bedbugs are Bret Stephens.”
The tweet got nine likes and zero retweets, Karpf said. So the professor was surprised when an email from Stephens popped a few hours later.
He noticed that his provost at GWU was copied on the email. And Stephens was furious.
“I’m often amazed about the things supposedly decent people are prepared to say about other people — people they’ve never met — on Twitter. I think you’ve set a new standard,” Stephens wrote. “I would welcome the opportunity for you to come to my home, meet my wife and kids, talk to us for a few minutes, and then call me a ‘bedbug’ to my face. That would take some genuine courage and intellectual integrity on your part.”
Yep...Bret Stephens, who regularly uses his NY Times column space to decry political correctness and the stifling of free speech on college campuses, got upset when someone called him a 'bedbug' on twitter.
The tweet seemed harmless enough to David Karpf. The associate professor of media and public affairs at George Washington University took a story that bedbugs had infested the New York Times newsroom as an occasion to dig at his least favorite Times writer, the conservative columnist Bret Stephens.
“The bedbugs are a metaphor,” Karpf wrote on Monday. “The bedbugs are Bret Stephens.”
The tweet got nine likes and zero retweets, Karpf said. So the professor was surprised when an email from Stephens popped a few hours later.
He noticed that his provost at GWU was copied on the email. And Stephens was furious.
“I’m often amazed about the things supposedly decent people are prepared to say about other people — people they’ve never met — on Twitter. I think you’ve set a new standard,” Stephens wrote. “I would welcome the opportunity for you to come to my home, meet my wife and kids, talk to us for a few minutes, and then call me a ‘bedbug’ to my face. That would take some genuine courage and intellectual integrity on your part.”
Yep...Bret Stephens, who regularly uses his NY Times column space to decry political correctness and the stifling of free speech on college campuses, got upset when someone called him a 'bedbug' on twitter.
Do we no longer have the "irony" thread?
What is amazing to me is that this Stephens fellow (who I have never read as I only get the Sunday Times and I don't think he's in there) is so thin skinned that he somehow found a guy with next to no followers who insulted him.
Re: (The End of) Journalism Thread
Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2019 10:15 pm
by Johnnie
When called on it, he said that calling one a 'bedbug' is the term of a totalitarian regime. No, seriously.
And today he drops a column about it. On Friday. Like a bitch.
Fuck this bedbug.
ETA:
The individual he's passive aggressively calling a Nazi is dumbfounded.
Obviously this guy never heard of The Streisand Affect.
Re: (The End of) Journalism Thread
Posted: Sat Aug 31, 2019 10:03 am
by Joe K
Stephens is probably extra salty because Trump roasted him on Twitter the other day, which put a monkey wrench in his plan to say, “I really wanted to vote for the Democrat, but...” once the General Election rolls around. He’s among the hackiest of the “anti-Trump” GOP hacks.
Re: (The End of) Journalism Thread
Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2019 1:03 pm
by Johnnie
I love Cody's Showdy.
Re: (The End of) Journalism Thread
Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2019 1:16 pm
by sancarlos
Re: (The End of) Journalism Thread
Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2019 3:17 pm
by DaveInSeattle
The NY Times can be maddening at times...
Here's a reporter (Sabrina Tavernise) on her story about how impeachment will play out with voters...(she has deleted the original tweet)
Only problem...her 'swing voters'?
Someone who voted for Trump in 2016...and Republican in 2018. A dude with a picture of Robert E Lee on his mantel. Someone who's been to over 20 Trump rallies. And people who have been interviewed before by the Times.
DSafetyGuy wrote: ↑Tue Nov 12, 2019 5:14 pm
At least she's not the editor-in-chief at Northwestern.
Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Tue Nov 12, 2019 5:24 pm
I actually the think the backlash, against a crew of well-meaning college kids, ffs, is pretty over the top.
Some much needed context, as I think a lot of people are just reading the editorial and the backlash and don't have the particulars. It's more complicated than "you are apologizing for practicing journalism."
I'm not saying the backlash is completely off the rails, I just think the Internet Rage Machine is running at high RPMs today.
brian wrote: ↑Tue Nov 12, 2019 5:28 pm
The dean at Medill released a great statement today that was pitch perfect. I won't link it here since it's definitely not relevant to the thread, but should be easy to find if you want to.
DSafetyGuy wrote: ↑Tue Nov 12, 2019 5:34 pm
But if you do a public act like that, are you not responsible for it? Should a journalist report on public news stories such as that?
the Daily’s editorial staff fielded complaints about photos of the demonstrations being posted to social media, saying some protesters found that to be traumatizing and invasive....
some students complained about reporters using the Northwestern directory to contact them before the event and ask if they wanted to be interviewed.
In response, the Daily took down some photos from social media and removed the name of a student who demonstrated, explaining the paper did not want to make anyone vulnerable to disciplinary action by the school nor expose them to any threats.
You acted in a public place at a public event. Your name and contact information is in a public document. If you fear the repercussions of your acts, perhaps reconsider if you really want to go through with the acts.
Sorry for the threadjack.
Re: (The End of) Journalism Thread
Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2019 5:42 pm
by Nonlinear FC
So as to staunch the threadjacking over on the other thread.
While I agree with you, DSafe, and that's what initially jumped out at me, there's just a lot more nuance with a student run (no faculty adviser, no formal connection to Medill) newspaper that is headed by a black guy (extremely rare, if not unprecedented) who is trying to navigate reporting on fellow students of color, while maintaining lofty journalism ethics.
A bunch of the protesters were concerned with getting in trouble with NW and/or being threatened with violence.
Now, I absolutely agree, they should be ready for ramifications for their actions. But it's not as straight forward as if the Chicago Tribune showed up and covered this. There are nuances here.
