Journalists to be: ignore this advice. There are many great opportunities in journalism where you can report accurately what is happening in under-covered communities and do great work and impact lots of lives and win lots of awards and not break news. 1)
Be aware that dudes like this will always exist. They will make you feel badly about your work and your mission because they think “you don’t have credibility”. While you’re digging into data on gentrification they’ll be practicing access journalism 2)
Put your head down. Tell good stories. Fight for opportunities. Dig for the truth. Don’t sugarcoat bullsh*t. Tell those stories because they are important. Fight for more time because it matters. Push back against laziness and sloppiness. Be proud of what you do. 3)
Many of these dudes see ‘news’ as a game. They frequently miss the human beings in the stories. The job—for them—was never about service to the public. They will do just fine! Even if they’re mediocre! But you can have a great career serving people who need their stories told. 4)
Anyway—it’s a tough biz. So make good friends. Avoid and ignore the bad people and be grateful for the amazing opportunities journalists have to impact the lives of others. Fin)

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More from @soledadobrien

4 Sep
Good morning! This is for journalism students, as our favorite access journalists—Maggie Haberman and Peter Baker have a story about Trump’s reax to the devastating ⁦@TheAtlantic⁩ article. 1)
2) as per usual I won’t link to the article. No need to be helpful! But please note paragraph 1 starts with (as @EricBoehlert points out) “heated denial” from Trump. And tells us how Trump is “moving quickly”. They tell us Trump “marched over” “visibly angry”
Moving on to Paragraph 3 we hear from the President a quote that ends with: “what sort of animal says such a thing?” Maggie and Peter neglect to use that opportunity—early up—to point out all the terrible things the President said about McCain, Gold Star families, etc 3)
Read 8 tweets
26 Aug
Access-journalism.
Haberman’s latest in the @nytimes quotes the First Lady: “never make assumptions based on the color of a person’s skin”

*fails to mention her birtherism.

*And calls wearing a jacket that said “I Really Don’t Care. Do U” a “famous fashion faux pas”.
It was wriiten along with Annie Karni and Katie Rogers, and could easily have been written by the First Lady’s press person. I realize that there’s a bunch of reporters who don’t give a crap about the racism that is birtherism—or who think a hateful slogan is a ‘faux pas’.
I fully understand that they need access access access and they are willing to pull some punches to get it. That’s how today’s DC press corps works. But the First Lady went on National TV as a birther, so maybe her comments about race might be...not heartfelt?
Read 4 tweets
5 Jun
Biden’s quote was pretty nuanced—and thoughtful. The @nytimes pulling this chunk is a good indication of how their reporting is gonna go. Which is to say, it’s going to be frequently bad— again.
Here’s what he said (thx @ArgoJournal:)
“Do we really think this is as good as we can be as a nation? I don’t think the vast majority of ppl think that...There are..10 to 15% of the ppl..that are just not very good ppl, but that’s not who we are. The vast majority...are decent,
... and we have to appeal to that &..unite people”
Read 7 tweets
2 Jun
A reminder that this lady, wrong as she consistently is, still has a job:
Here’s what she wrote : just before election day.

“If Trump wins, he'll be held more or less in check by the House and Senate because that's the way our system of government is set up. Not even Republicans are eager to follow Trump's lead.
There won't be a wall...”
Oh, there’s more:

“He won't impose any religion-based immigration restrictions, because even Trump isn't that lame-brained. He'll dress up and behave at state dinners and be funny when called upon. He'll even invite the media to the White House holiday party.”
Read 4 tweets
25 May
I think she means to say—on a day when we honor those who gave their lives in service, we think of the 100,000 Americans, who have died in the midst of a pandemic. We think of the millions who have lost their livelihoods, and those who are fearful of what the future holds. 1)
We are grateful for those who work tirelessly in hospitals around the country. Who risk their lives daily to save lives—and to help keep their neighbors healthy and well. We appreciate those who work in stores, and delis and restaurants whose jobs help us feed our families.
We reflect with sympathy on those who have lost loved ones—unable to hold their hands or kiss the goodbye one final time. We are sympathetic to those trying to juggle their kids’ remote-schooling and work zoom calls and cooking and cleaning and life.
Read 7 tweets
13 May
Hmm no. But he’s not afraid to say the appalling thing. He embraces racism easily and eagerly. He seems to have no core beliefs abd most importantly, no shame, so there are never any lessons to learn. He’s a narcissist, so all that matters is everythings impact on him. 1)
He is eagerly cruel, which many find appealing. He is not book smart, but he can read a room, usually. When he fails, he runs off, or swaps messaging. His biggest success is getting the media to always embrace his framing, his wording, his pov. Always. He is a “big character’ 2)
Thus, he is “good tv”. But he stands for jothing and surrounds himself with weak people who also have no core beliefs.

So nope—he’s pretty stupid, but fearless in his bigotry and meanness, which appeals to many.
Read 4 tweets

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