Thread by @keikoinboston

1. Really excellent deep dive on Yashar Ali from @peterkiefer in @LAmag.

Whether you know who Ali is or not, Kiefer’s article is worth your time.

lamag.com/mag-features/y…

2. On the surface it’s a profile of an elusive questionable journalist and former Democratic political operative who perhaps shouldn’t wield the power that he does but it also shines a light on the state of journalism and social media discourse today.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yashar_Ali

3. After you read the article I recommend this interview with @peterkiefer.

https://twitter.com/ringer/status/1403453846723104774

4. There’s been controversy over the timing of the online release given Ali’s recent revelation that he deals with passive suicidal ideation, which he tweeted about daily for weeks. Kiefer addresses the “ethical quandry” he and Los Angeles magazine were faced with.

5. Ali asked them to delay publication (for reasons not specified by Kiefer) which they did initially.

They gave Ali “ample opportunities to respond” — something which Kiefer notes Ali doesn’t give to a lot of his subjects.

6. The piece illustrates how much goes on behind the scenes that we usually never hear about.

7. Fame isn’t organic and the piece really exposes the inner workings of influence peddling and how marginal figures can be elevated by more respected figures, creating a feedback loop in which others confer respect because they see respected figures they know doing so.

8. It shows how people have blind spots when it comes to flaws in their friends or people they believe are doing good work—at least until those people turn on them. (See Amy Siskind’s thread. 👇)

https://twitter.com/keikoinboston/status/1403177052103221248

9. It highlights the conflicting priorities of journalists who have praised Ali’s work canceling high profile figures (justified or not) and sought out his promotion of their work.

10. Kiefer says that someone referred to Ali as the “Canceler-in-Chief”.

“His form of journalism was very much of this moment when people were being rooted out and castigated for past indiscretions or mistakes that they’ve made. That’s sort of his stock and trade.”

11. It’s also an inside look into what happens when you choose the wrong leaders.

https://twitter.com/keikoinboston/status/1255723716031533058

12. People often ask how abusers rise to power and the answer is always that there are people who know what they’re doing but keep quiet out of fear.

13. Dozens of people were afraid to speak to Kiefer on the record. One veteran, said this to him:

Source: Peter, you’re a very brave man.

Kiefer: Why?

Source: Yashar is the biggest bully I’ve ever encountered.

14. Asked whether Kiefer and Los Angeles magazine considered the blowback of publishing a negative piece about a man who has ended people’s careers, Kiefer said they were ready and he’s been surprised there hasn't been more.

15.

“It was never going to stop us altogether. You can’t let that stop you. That’s just allowing bad behavior to go on and on and on. Someone needed to write this story. If it wasn’t going to be me it was going to be somebody else."

16. Not everyone who has power and a platform will use it responsibly and sometimes there’s no way to hold them accountable if they don’t.

17. For those who don’t work in fields that have licenses that can be revoked, the media is one of the few ways to bring abuses to light. But when the journalists are the abusers and the rest of the media stays silent, we’re in trouble.

18. My thanks to @peterkiefer @maerroshan and @LAmag for having the moral courage to dig into this and report this story which should have been reported a long time ago.