8/06/2010

New Fox News piece: What David Weigel's case tells us about media bias

My newest piece at Fox News started this way:

The case of Mr. David Weigel, a reporter who was hired by The Washington Post to blog about conservatives and who resigned from his job on June 25, exposed the inner workings of journalism in America.

But what has been most telling about the case since then hasn't just been Weigel's actions or the revelations of other journalists on "Journolist," -- which is described by The Post as "an off-the-record listserv for several hundred independent to left-leaning commentators and journalists that was founded in 2007" -- but how other journalists have reacted to the news.

Although it has long been well-known that journalists overwhelmingly have liberal leanings, they have typically claimed that it doesn't affect their reporting. But the boost given Weigel’s career by the revelations that he advocated shaping news coverage to help President Obama pass his legislative agenda was extremely surprising.

How Weigel advocated that news be tilted to help Obama ought to be have been the main story in the scandal. But, of course, that has not been the take coming from journalists. Instead, . . .


For whatever it is worth, here is another post on David that I just came across. Remember the assault by Congressman Bob Etheridge (D-N.C.) against a couple of young people (claiming to be college students)? Well, "The Virginian" blog discusses Weigel's description of the events.

Here is how David Weigel, (the Post's designated Dian Fossey exploring the deepest wilds of Conservatism) describes the encounter. Hitting the camera and smashing it to the ground is described as "pointing it down." Grabbing the student by the wrist and neck is described as a "hug." The students not wishing to reveal their identity to get the full "Joe the Plumber" treatment is - according the Weigel - the issue to be uncovered. The actions of a (possibly) inebriated Democrat, not so much. The video of a Democrat congressman roughing up a couple of kids on the street is not the opportunityfor Weigel to reveal to his readers that "the students have created the first conservative meme of the week." Presumable they will be forewarned that Democrats assaulting people on the street is OK, if the victims desire anonymity.

"Hi David. who are you?"

Labels: , , ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home