For all the fawning that the mainstream media does over Democrats, there’s a dirty little secret that’s rarely spoken of within the news industry. Julia Ioffe, a far-left journalist, decided to go ahead and say the quiet part out loud on that front.
Ioffe, who spun wild conspiracy theories about Russia and championed Fox News being de-platformed, is certainly no friend of Republicans. She also once accused Donald Trump of incest — because that’s just what journalists do. Yet, in her newsletter, she expressed her frustration with how Democrats are expected to be treated by the press.
I don’t think too many on the right will be surprised to read any of this, though, it’s rarely mentioned. One of the most under-reported aspects of the relationship between Democrats and the press is how dysfunctional that relationship is. That really shouldn’t be surprising.
When journalists show themselves to be willing to do or say just about anything to protect Democrats, is it any wonder that those same Democrats take that devotion for granted and demand more and more subservience? Jen Psaki, for example, isn’t used to being challenged, which is why she’s gotten progressively more combative over the last several months. Joe Biden is perhaps the starkest example I can think of. Despite receiving slavish coverage almost all the time, any time a reporter challenges him, he loses his mind. These are people that see the press as pack mules, there to haul their water. They have no deeper emotional connection to journalists, even as those journalists obviously long for that.
Given that, what really strikes me about Ioffe’s admission is how pathetic it makes the press look. Democrat politicians routinely belittle them and spit in their faces despite the constant knee-bending. You’d think journalists would have enough self-respect to stand up for themselves and start being more adversarial. Instead, they cower like a whipped dog, ready to lick the boots of whatever Democrat requires their services next.
Why? Because they see their political mission as primary, and that mission is decidedly left-wing. Joe Biden can yell at a journalist and their colleagues will still be on CNN that night singing his praises and blaming the reporter for getting him upset. Nancy Pelosi can snark and ignore their questions over and over. The New Yorker will still publish that yearly, full-spread fluff piece about how she’s a barrier-breaker.
Nothing really matters but politics for those in the “hard” news industry. That they try to pretend otherwise only makes them more contemptible. It’s also why their credibility is low enough to make a third-world dictator blush. So, while Ioffe and other journalists complain about Democrats, it’s well within their power to do something about it. Will they? Of course, they won’t.