We are unpacking a new feature where we assess the news landscape from the past seven days and ascertain if one news organization rose up by lowering itself on a consistent basis. Amid the election tumult, there was also Trump unspooling the press with his garbage truck ride, so as expected, the competition was fierce. Let’s scratch our heads and hold our noses as we delve into the mayhem.
The Contenders:
POLITICO – Jonathan Lemire was the first to push out the neutered defense of Joe Biden’s Garbage comment that he spoke with an apostrophe. (Then the newly promoted Lemire went further on MSNBC with his contortions.) When Trump made his trip in a sanitation vehicle, the site called it a “dump truck.” They were happy to push the lie that Trump threatened Liz Cheney. One helpful staffer wanted us to avoid listening to JD Vance on Joe Rogan and instead accept her unbiased summary.
CNN – Jake Tapper became unwound as JD Vance sat in and delivered hurtful facts. Ryan Girdusky was removed from the network for using a comment about pagers to Mehdi Hasan. (Hasan dropping “Nazi” references was perfectly acceptable.) They offered a different defense for Biden’s Garbage take – he has a stutter! When Trump rode in his garbage truck, the network could not help but cut away from pro-Kamala coverage. Trump’s success in hogging the news cycle clearly bothered correspondent Kristen Holmes.
CBS News – They were part of the push to make a comedian’s joke about Puerto Rico to be about Trump. Ironically, this fed the hype that ended up overshadowing O’Donnell’s interview with Kamala that few noticed. In a prior interview with Cheney, Margaret Brennan described JD Vance criticizing policy as an “attack,” but Cheney calling Vance a “misogynistic pig” was portrayed as Liz having “characterized” the senator. After Biden dropped his “garbage” comment, Norah O’Donnell said Trump driving a garbage truck was a sign he was showing “no grace” towards the president.
And this week’s Dis-Honoree:
In a close one with CBS, WaPo managed to distinguish itself with both volume and self-destruction. The outlet was particularly obsessed with covering the manufactured controversy of the comedian at the Trump rally, belching out a series of pieces over the course of a single day.
When Biden derailed the Kamala Harris Express with his “garbage” comment, columnist Aaron Blake went into overdrive with the excuse-making, resorting to the punctuation dodge, the mental condition of President Silveralert, and even going with the tired trope of Republicans being the focus for making an issue of his quote.
I’m going to need a ruling on this from the press:
Is it “Republicans Pounce”, or is it “Republican’s Pounce”??? https://t.co/fF8ide6S7G— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) October 30, 2024
On Friday there was a bit of a dust-up when conservative columnist Hugh Hewitt was on a WaPo video-cast and could no longer abide the leftist lobbying for Kamala & Co. He walked off of the broadcast and then promptly quit the paper as well. He has hardly been alone in that regard.
Since late last week a number of other staffers have resigned, including journos and editors. This was all due to the decision that WaPo made to not issue a presidential endorsement this election. Neutrality at a news site is apparently unacceptable to a slew of journalists. This has caused a duststorm across the news industry. It has also caused an unforeseen negative.
The rash of staffers trashing their own publication has led to readers canceling their subscriptions. Those not quitting are somewhat dismayed that this revolt led to – at last count – over a quarter of a million cancellations. The backlash was so extreme that one columnist described having to grapple with the reality that her own mother was among those cutting ties from her own paper.
My mom just told me she cancelled her subscription to The Washington Post. She reads every one of my stories. It was a heartbreaking call.
I understand why she did it, but I asked her to reconsider. To anyone who has cancelled or is thinking about cancelling, here’s what I said:
— Caroline Kitchener (@CAKitchener) October 26, 2024
Finally the publisher had to come out and try to calm the waters, while delivering a lecture, of course. In a WaPo op-ed Jeff Bezos attempted to explain how public faith in the press has in recent years plummeted, meaning a return to journalism ethics and standards is needed. Based on the continued simmering tensions inside his paper, few have taken his sober approach as a lesson.
