The problem of the press in five tweets

Item one:

Most journalists get into the business to make things better, to force change, to move the needle. That can’t happen in DC right now. Can here https://t.co/aDe0V7oy2b

— Ron Fournier (@ron_fournier) January 4, 2018

A propagandist like Willi Muenzenberg could say exactly the same thing. And that’s a problem.

Item two:

I am at Kramer Books where there aren’t any people lined up for Fire and Fury yet but there are a bunch of journalists posted up at the bar waiting for people to line up

— Ben Terris (@bterris) January 5, 2018

Fire and Fury is a big story, guys, because me and my buddies want it to be a big story!

If the MSM wants to regain some credibility, maybe they should stop relating everything to a kid’s book.

D.C. Treats Midnight Release of Wolff’s Book on Trump Like ‘Harry Potter’ Event

Item three:

Fire and Fury, in describing how the travel ban EO was drafted and bungled, has this description of Trump side Stephen Miller. pic.twitter.com/ssxWWpC5sw

— Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) January 4, 2018

The Stephen Miller story is one of the most absurd things I’ve seen in the reporting of this tabloid-gossip-masquerading-as-Very-Important-Journalism.

Stephen Miller is many things; stupid is not one of them. This can be easily verified by checking out the columns he wrote as an undergraduate at Duke defending the lacrosse players during the rape hoax.

As K. C. Johnson noted:

Miller's commentary, along with that of Kristin Butler, has given the Chronicle the best op-ed coverage of all aspects of the case of any newspaper in the country. It is something for which a college newspaper should be extraordinarily proud.

Miller was a frequent warm-up speaker speaker at Trump rallies during the 2016 campaign. And who can forget the epic press conference when he owned CNN’s Jim Acosta and reduced that “reporter” to reading second-rate doggerel off of his smart phone.

Well, apparently, Comcast/NBC’s ace reporter Katy Tur can forget.

As old gloomy Arthur was want to say “Intellect is invisible to the man who has none.”

Remember the old days when the MSM maintained that they were trust-worthy because they had layers of editors and fact-checkers? Now we have establishment reporters endorsing palpably absurd stories from a writer with a checkered history of truthfulness.

What Caused Michael Wolff’s Strange And Provably False Attack On Stephen Miller?

MICHAEL WOLFF, FABULIST

Item four:

"CNN has not independently confirmed all of Wolff's assertions. But the broader portrait of a President surrounded by aides and advisers wary of his temperament has been borne out in conversations with officials over the past year," @kevinliptak reports https://t.co/EuE79cwuRw

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) January 7, 2018

Here is our thoroughly modern journalism-- equal parts Truthiness and a fervent “I want to believe”.

This concerns CNN’s resident media critic, Trump scourge, amateur psychologist, and Jon Stewart fan boy.

CNN just out there journalising their hearts out. pic.twitter.com/bEacUFsXEq

— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) January 6, 2018

Stelter’s concern is not that Wolff’s gossipy opus falls short of the journalistic standards Stelter purports to espouse. No, his concern is that the errors of Fire and Fury will undercut the anti-Trump message.

Gee, I wonder why?

CNN’s War On Trump Is Going Swimmingly

A long time ago I asked this question:

Is Brian Stelter clever and dishonest or is he stupid and completely lacking in self-awareness?

Turns out he’s just a grubby little careerist doing his best to please boss man Jeff Zucker.