It isn't new, but political reporters thinking (or claiming to think) that their job is to perform some elaborate ritual to keep sources happy and maintain some illusion of "balance" instead of trying to do what the title says is even more absurd now. People think journalism is important (yes) and think the New York Times does good work (of course it does some good work) and think supporting journalism means paying for the New York Times (no, really, no, it's like supporting higher education by donating to Harvard). And if you like the product pay for it. That's fine. But don't pay for it because you think you are fulfilling some sort of civic duty by paying for it. The New York Times has been hurting America my whole life. Every "but her emails" joke is about the New York Times and I don't know why everybody forgot this the day after the election.
Why should I pay for Peter Baker to call Ben Domenech to get quotes for a piece which basically blames normal people and "both sides" for the fact that elites, including elite journalists and columnists, and mostly Republican and conservative elites, are devoted to deceiving normal people, or at best obscuring the truth? Do your damn job and tell us who is full of shit. That isn't always completely clear, but often it is!
Unless that isn't your job... in which case, what would I be paying for again?
