Last Thursday, I sat in a studio in Newark for the above interview with Ben Shapiro. It was a wide-ranging and oddly friendly discussion between a former Breitbart staffer and the author of Andrew Breitbart’s mostly infamously obscene obituary, in which the fact that the interview could even happen at all was among the most interesting things about it. (Video at the link)
It’s a good interview. Taibbi said something that struck a chord about 1/3 of the way into the interview. He said that media today cares too much about how their product will be received. Instead of just throwing the facts on a slate, they try and shape the response. That’s a solid perspective because such an approach encourages ideology overtaking fact (omissions, covert editorializing, placement in the publication, anonymous sources, censorship, critiquing competitors).
He stops short of saying it’s purposeful, and the actual goal. More specifically, it is the payoff of a strategy that no only applies to the media, but just about every politicalize organization inclusive of government institutions and corporations. Instead, Taibbi and Shapiro act like this magically appeared overnight.
Operation Mockingbird. Just say it Matt. You’ll feel better.
The fact that Shapiro is talking about it means that they cannot contain the story anymore.
He is a gatekeeper, not a gateway.
Well worth watching.
Two very bright guys with differing opinions not yelling at each other. A rare sight.