Journolist Members Seemed To Love Palin Speech - Initially Anyway
Monday, July 26, 2010 at 9:05AM More great investigative reporting from the DC Caller today. This time it is the Listers reaction to Sarah Palin's 2008 Vice Presidential acceptance speech.
Sarah Palin’s speech to the 2008 Republican convention impressed more than a few doubters, including even some members of Journolist, an online community for liberal journalists.
“This speech is gangbusters,” wrote Ari Melber of the Nation. “Her tone is pitch perfect.” Adele Stan of the Media Consortium agreed: “Palin is golden.”
The exuberance appeared to unnerve the Guardian’s Michael Tomasky. “People get a hold of yourselves!” Tomasky wrote to his fellow Journolisters. “It’s a very good speech with good lines. But there’s very little substance.”
Rebecca Traister of Salon wrote to say she was grateful for Tomasky’s message discipline. (“This is a reassuring sentiment, since at the moment, I feel like we’re in End Times.”) But the rest of the country apparently didn’t agree. Polls a few days later showed Obama’s lead in the race had narrowed to virtually nothing.
Palin’s speech had been remarkably effective. This troubled members of Journolist. On Sept. 8, 2008, five days after Palin’s national debut, some members of the group discussed producing coordinated propaganda designed to wound Palin and boost Obama.
At an appearance in Colorado immediately following the convention, Palin had remarked that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had “gotten too big and too expensive for the taxpayers,” a point that seems commonplace now, but that at the time struck some as controversial.
Ryan Avent, then a freelance blogger for the Economist, now an editor there, complained that Obama’s supporters were missing a chance to attack. “If we were the GOP, we’d be taking this opportunity to shout long and loud how unprepared Palin is—‘She doesn’t even know what Fannie and Freddie are…in the middle of a housing crisis!’….That’s the difference in the game as played by us and by them.”
Michael Tomasky responded: “So why aren’t Dems doing that? Just wundrin’.”
Luke Mitchell, then a senior editor at Harper’s magazine, asked Tomasky if his paper would be able to help: “Michael – Isn’t this something that can be fanned a bit by, say, the Guardian?”
Tomasky didn’t think it would work. “The Guardian? You’re kidding right? Remember the Clark County letters?” he wrote, referring to a failed attempt by the Guardian to elect John Kerry in 2004 by asking Britons to write letters to voters in a pivotal Ohio county.
Mitchell replied: “Fair enough! But it seems to me that a concerted effort on the part of the left partisan press could be useful. Why geld ourselves? A lot of the people on this list work for organizations that are far more influential than, say, the Washington Times.
“Open question: Would it be a good use of this list to co-ordinate a message of the week along the lines of the GOP? Or is that too loathsome? It certainly sounds loathsome. But so does losing!”
Ezra Klein of the Washington Post, the founder of Journolist, quickly jumped in: “Nope, no message coordination. I’m not even sure that would be legal. This is a discussion list, though, and I want it to retain that character,” he wrote.
Mitchell replied: “Fair enough, Ezra! The list is great at as it is and I didn’t mean to suggest anything out of bounds. I am still curious about the reluctance of the left media to organize, though. The message discipline on the right seems to be one of its key advantages.”
Reader Comments (5)
Maybe it is because I'm a "right-winger", but I don't understand why this "journolist" is not the biggest story since 9/11.
The left has been denying the media bias charge for decades. In my mind this is bigger than if someone uncovered tapes of O.J. admitting that he killed his wife.
I know that the MSM is not going to cover it, but the fair and balanced media should be shouting this story so loudly that it would force everyone else to at least acknowledge that it happened.
I totally agree HB. The problem is these scumbag "journalists" aren't going to out themselves or their friends who participated in the mainstream media. The lack of reporting in the mainstream media about the Journolist is absolute proof of media bias.
As much as there has ever been.
How long have we been hearing about the Great Rightwing Conspiracy ? We knew all along
that these liberal henchmen was doing exactly what they were accusing us of doing....
This is a big story, but will carry little traction since all the liberal media was involved.. I
would love to see some heads roll and justice done. but want hold my breath....
Think about what conceited, arrogant assholes the Journolist MSM types are. In their view they serve some greater good by telling the great unwashed masses how to think and vote and by interpreting the news. They don't believe we're sophisticated enough to draw the correct conclusions without them. They advocate for politicians and policies in line with their ideology, because they know what's best for us. Never mind that they're economic illiterates. To hell with individual liberties and self-determination. Well old Herb has a message for you Journolist MSM types - go screw yourself.
I second that Herb.