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Regarding the discussion of Maggie Haberman's work and the continued befuddling choices by major outlets, it's necessary to take a wider look at why people are so frustrated by journalists and why it's absolutely necessary to want them to do better while still supporting them. 1/
First of all, journalism is under attack in this country. It's totally necessary to note that and say we should support journalism and that journalists' work is absolutely necessary for the time and moment. That doesn't mean it can't be better, that it HAS to be better 2/
First and foremost, journalists are human beings. They're not a group of people who were raised in a vacuum. They have blindspots and biases. The industry itself isn't perfect and has a long history of blindspots and biases. 3/
Journalism has long been a privileged group. It's been full of white people from wealthy and middle classes, many of them legacies with parents who ran the industry before them. Many go to private schools, expensive ivy's and so on. That tradition hampers worldview. 4/
By that same token, it has largely been regional, especially as media has concentrated on the coast. This has led to a near complete misunderstanding of the country and Middle-America, which is why they're taking these zoological trips into Trump country now. 5/
But it also means the press is more often than not protectors of status quo. They have their entire identities wrapped up in this system being a meritocracy. They got to the top, after all, so why upset the apple cart? Surely the system is working the way it should. 6/
Because they believe the system is fundamentally sound, they lose sight of things like the danger of Trump. They seem him as an aberration, a blip, instead of a symptom of a much larger rot that threatens to topple everything. This is a major blindspot. 7/
Because of this they've labeled everybody who saw collusion with Russia, who saw the attack on Roe V. Wade, etc etc etc as conspiracy theorists, giving way too much room for corruption and subterfuge. It's a massive blindspot and needs addressed. 8/
Relatedly, they're part of the gamification of politics. The Fourth Estate has become enamored with Access Politics that have made them a player in the day-to-day operations of the dangerous narrative and a glamorization of court politics that never addresses reality 9/
This pseudo-environment, as Walter Lipmann called it, is where Trump thrives. He is the embodiment of the gamification of politics. He's a living TV character, and the press has become characters in that television show, unfortunately. 10/
Journalists are fundamentally good people. They do hard work, often for little pay, and enjoy careers where they could lose everything in an instance. Business in news has undercut them and given them really terrible incentives. They have to push back against these things. 11/
It's not calling them The Enemy of the People to ask them to take a good long hard look in the mirror. All of us need to take stock and figure out how to get past this crisis. Supporting them means wanting/needing them to be better 12/12
