Charlotte, NC — In a statement released Thursday from Politico’s top editor, Matt Kaminski, the news outlet offered a defense detailing their decision to publish an op-ed Daily Wire editor emeritus, Ben Shapiro. This, even as leftists and some of the news outlet’s very own staffers, were infuriated for daring to publish “an oft-incendiary right-wing commentator,” as the oft-incendiary left-wing Daily Beast puts it.
Almost immediately after publication, leftists took to Twitter to express their outrage over the news magazine’s decision allowing Shapiro access to its “signature news product,” by melting down over the mere thought of Ben accessing the outlet’s email audience.
The Week’s Ryan Cooper was one of the loudest and more notable whiners accusing Shapiro of not only having a differing opinion but because he supposedly “bribed” Politico while killing the environment, too.
“Ben Shapiro is a racist liar, but he also arranged for an oil company to give Politico a massive bribe, so, it’s impossible to say if hes bad or not,” Cooper wrote in a much-maligned tweet.
Ben Shapiro is a racist liar, but he also arranged for an oil company to give Politico a massive bribe, so, it;s impossible to say if hes bad or not, pic.twitter.com/cwSgHG0HBy
— ryan cooper (@ryanlcooper) January 14, 2021
Additionally, a Yahoo News journalist was incensed that Ben had the audacity to make a joke on Twitter Wednesday at the expense of a New York Times reporter.
“The fact Politico gave prime real estate to Ben Shapiro the day after he claimed *everyone* has zip tie restraints at home in an attempt to minimize the Capitol riots and it all being sponsored by the oil and gas lobby tells you more about DC than any newsletter scoop could,” he claimed.
The fact Politico gave prime real estate to Ben Shapiro the day after he claimed *everyone* has zip tie restraints at home in an attempt to minimize the Capitol riots and it all being sponsored by the oil and gas lobby tells you more about DC than any newsletter scoop could.
— Hunter Walker (@hunterw) January 14, 2021
More Leftist individuals who moon-light as journalists decided to put their ‘journalisming’ hat back on to criticize Ben. Even The Washington Post’s media critic got in on the action advocating for walling off Shapiro from cross-publishing. “You know, if you want to hear Shapiro’s opinions, there’s a place to go for that,” he said.
The irony clearly lost, Shapiro’s column spoke directly to the difficulty leftists will face by lumping in traditional conservatives — including President Donald Trump’s critics and detractors — with the violent mob that stormed the United States Capitol last week, resulting in the death of five people and injuring dozens of Capitol Police officers, particularly with regard to opposing a second Trump impeachment.
“If you supported Trump in any way, you were at least partially culpable, the argument goes. It’s not just Trump who deserves vitriol — it’s all 74 million people who voted for him,” Shapiro wrote. “Opposition to impeachment comes from a deep and abiding conservative belief that members of the opposing political tribe want their destruction, not simply to punish Trump for his behavior.”
Reports began to surface around noon on Thursday that not all was copacetic within Politico. Moreover, staffers on the outlet’s internal messaging service, Slack, were in revolt.
“[Publishing Shapiro’s column] has clearly generated a wave of negative attention, and I fear it’s already overshadowing a lot of great work being done by journalists across this newsroom,” one staffer lamented.
No Leftist cry-fest is complete without a direct reference to racism which quickly came when a staffer implied the decision to publish Shapiro’s work undermined racial equality.
“This is especially confusing given the newsroom’s welcome efforts over the last year to cover issues related to race in a more intentional, elevated, thoughtful way,” the person said.
Now that the racism box had been checked, there was another one left unfulfilled and that’s criticism from American’s Hall Monitor, Brian Stelter, and CNN. According to Stelter, Politico hastily convened a newsroom conference call, to discuss the matter. Other reports indicated that Politico turned over a previously scheduled “diversity and inclusion” meeting to handling the twin issues of diversity and the inclusion of the conservative writer in Politico’s Playbook email.
Kaminski defended his decision at the meeting and in a statement released Thursday afternoon.
“We published a piece by a very prominent writer, provocateur, and podcaster. We stand by every word in there, it was very closely edited,” he said. “Mischief making has always been a part of Politico’s secret sauce. We were an upstart. Some of that sensibility is always going to be a part of this publication.”
The later statement read: “We have taken great care to assemble a roster of guest authors who are prominent thinkers and writers and represented a range of perspectives. What sets Politico apart in this intense political and media moment is that we rise above partisanship and ideological warfare even as many seek to drag us into it. It’s a core value of the publication that is unchangeable and that above all protects our ability to do independent journalism. It is a part of our mission.”
Politico did not completely bend to the public pressure and outcry as Shapiro’s column remained posted at Politico, but it wasn’t accessible from the site’s front page. With all this outrage it is apparent the college campus and classroom has planted deep roots in the newsrooms and publications in America.
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