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Saturday, Nov 7, 2009
now I can read Froomkin!
Thank you, Arianna! I had stopped visiting Huffpo as often as I once did because of what I perceived as blind approval for all things Obama. Now that they have Froomkin, I will go back.
I'm pleased (but not surprised) that Froomkin was immediately snatched up. I'm also not surprised that Arianna Huffington has the media acumen to quickly make an offer and negotiate a deal. I'm pretty confident that she will not impinge on Froomkin's autonomy, as it is that quality that will drive readers to the (new) Post.
Now, if they would just make the website more intuitive and user-friendly (just my $.02).
Froomkin's firing deserves to be put in the context of the scandal that immediately followed: The Post selling access to editorial staff, reporters and politicians for profit, and explicitly promising influence on matters of public policy.
The Post isn't just an outdated or unethical business, it's an active and conscious enemy of Americans who want, among other things, health care reform.
In their "salon" flier they promised Kaiser Permanente, for example, special access and the opportunity to “alter the debate” on health care. Not only should readers disregard their reporting, by Bush administration stenographer Ceci Connolly, they should consider the Post a direct player opposed to their interests.
"...by stark contrast, the tired right-wing grievance about The Liberal Media is not just permitted but welcomed; Bill Kristol...Charles Krauthammer, Jonah Goldberg, Bill Bennett -- are routinely heard in the very venues they attack..."
Elite liberal media figures flatter themselves with their delusional self-image as warriors defending to the death the views of those they disagree with. They believe they're impressing the bullies with how open minded they are when what they're really doing is opening themselves up to more contempt. Sadly I think Obama has more than a touch of this liberal vanity himself.
(Arianna, on the other hand, may be the personification of old fashioned vanity, but not this kind. Froomkin should be safe with her.)
If Arianna continues to be a patron for honest reporting like this, I can almost forgive her front-page updates about the vacation she's taking in Crete.
Almost.
"...and write at least two posts per week to be featured on its main page and Politics page."
Down from the 4-5 he used to write for the Post, but I'm still delighted that he will be overseeing four reporters. I would love to see HuffPost overtake Politico as the (perceived) primary source for what's going on in Washington.
As Froomkin lands on his feet and is looking at a bright future, does anyone care to guess where Fred Hiatt will be 5 years from now?
yay yay yay
i was hoping that Salon would hire him so i could read my two favorite journalists in the same paper - Froomkin and you Glenn, but this will work.
"Elite liberal media figures flatter themselves with their delusional self-image as warriors defending to the death the views of those they disagree with."
Please list the "elite liberal media figures" you are referring to and then show me their assertions that they are "warriors defending to the death the views of those they disagree with."
Ad hominem attacks without naming names and providing evidence to back up your claims are meaningless.
Please try to do better next time.
At the moment, Huffington is a voice for liberalism, but she does not have a record of constancy or objectivity. The HuffPo publishes crackpots about as much as substantive commentators. Froomkin may wind up somewhere else before long.
I would welcome the movement by the HP towards the more critical Froomkin model and I hope more outlets consider where they are and that they should move in that direction. Unfortunately, as Glenn has noted, the qualifier in all of this is the reader. There seems to be plenty of anecdotal evidence that sites or publications of one particular bent are satisfactory to their audience - feeding them just what they want to hear. I can only hope that there are someday many more that are willing to air voices like Greenwald and Froomkin.
This is a very encouraging development for Huffington Post. I had been avoiding it because of its Obama cheerleading. If Froomkin does indeed have editorial freedom there, he will be a good reason to visit, although I'm pretty sure I'll only be reading his work. It's been so long since I've visited, but I also seem to recall that they are very heavy-handed on moderating comments. Will Dan be able to control the moderation of his pieces as Glenn does here?
This sounds like a tremendous opportunity for Dan. I presume he didn't have a staff (or at least as much of one) at WaPoo. Is there any word on a start date yet?
If, and I mean IF newspapers offer anything of value, then letting them die, will free that value to go where its appreciated without being sullied by the corporate control.
The old journalism rests on the notion that reporters are supposed to be in bed with the people they report on, and filter news, lie, and misreport in order to preserve their privileged access.
What a farce!
Happy to see Dan land where he will be read, although Huffy is too strong on Michael Jackson, topless models, etc. to be taken straight.
"What is dying -- and rightfully so -- is the staid, establishment-serving, passion-free, access-desperate, mindless stenographic model to which establishment journalism rigidly adheres."
I've noticed that the alterante weeklies such as Burlington VT's "Seven Days" and the "Tampa Bay Planet" hold out glimmering flickers of light amid the fog of dull, predigested establishment reporting. Even when I was a reporter in the 1980s I was told by editors that "this is too complicated for the average reader" and "nobody cares about that issue" and that arrogant quotations that made some member of the local establishment look arrogant had to be excised from stories. Coverage of courthouse events was done by dull, predicatble stemography and space in the weekend papers was taken up with the formulaic story of this festival, that festival and the other festival.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The Maine fight was supposed to be the dress rehearsal for repealing California's Prop. 8 -- but gay marriage lost
Once one obtains Seriousness credentials in the Washington media, they are irrevocable no matter one's conduct.
Salon headlines in your mailbox
