Journalists at the Washington Free Beacon, The Federalist and the Independent Journal Review are more concerned with faulty explainer journalism and Jon Stewart clips than proving bias in the mainstream media, Dave Weigel writes.
A previous generation of conservatives trained their guns on Dan Rather and the network news that Americans used to watch. The newer generation does not fear the mainstream media. It pities the media, and understands, after a generation of Matt Drudge and Fox News, that manipulating it is child’s play. On the new sites, a little reporting and a little snark can expose that the government, and its defenders in the press, are puffing up their expertise to hide their incompetence.
But that doesn’t mean the more traditional conservative critique of U.S. mainstream media has gone away: Just today, some conservatives hit how much coverage (now reportedly former) congressional staffer Elizabeth Lauten’s dopey remarks about the president’s kids received in mainstream outlets.
Republican National Committee communications director Sean Spicer told NBC News the media’s coverage of Lauten was “appalling,” a point he amplified in a trio of tweets:
since was cut off (no surprise) here is what i told @NBCNews @TODAYshow re #ElizabethLauten : "Children, especially the first daughters 1/3
— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) December 1, 2014
are off limits. While the comments were inappropriate and insensitive, the mainstream media's coverage of this story is appalling. 2/3
— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) December 1, 2014
In over 20 years in politics I have never seen 1 of the countless inappropriate comments by Democrats ever covered to a faction of this" 3/3
— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) December 1, 2014
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