Every few years at The Post, a select few break away to join a new venture hellbent on subjective ‘reporting’ and ‘analysis.’
The last couple of times this happened, these folks happened to be, in my opinion, writers who ultimately accomplished two things:
- They drew in readers who crave points of view that don’t include valid counterpoints, because they don’t want to be bothered with reasonable doubt.
- They alienated readers who couldn’t believe such easily refutable drivel could make it into an otherwise honorable publication.
When these folks break away to form their own publication, my gut reaction is… fantastic. Never return. They’re now unshackled from whatever muzzle The Post kept on them and they’re even more free to be obnoxious for a living. (And yes, I’m still furious with the enablers who encouraged it in the first place).
Perhaps it’s always been the case, but it’s certainly been more frequent in the Internet age: Ordinary people can get paid to write their opinions, or even ‘news,’ without being fair or even logical, while having complete freedom, at best, to withhold vital information, and at worst, to lie. From the point of view of the business folks, so long as these ‘reporters’ bring in page views (hate-views suffice – the difference isn’t calculated), and so long as those views bring in revenue, all is fine in their world.
While I’m saying good riddance to them, the editors and the financiers who rehire them have long since said good riddance to objectivity, fairness, and ethical journalism.