Those Salon conservatives are at it again, keeping the right-wing media in check; Salena Zito defended

For this post, we’ll remind you of two things. Last October, liberal Salon posted its list of “the 25 conservatives actually worth following on Twitter,” and lo and behold, just about every single one of them was — shocker! — on the #NeverTrump team.

Thus was born the “Salon conservative,” comprising the likes of — try not to laugh — Ana Navarro, Richard W. Painter — who is currently running for Senate as a Democrat — and The Washington Post’s “conservative blogger,” Jennifer Rubin.

Fast forward to this week, and you might remember a post in which journalist and author Salena Zito defended her work against an anonymous Twitter account that claimed she was misrepresenting the political leanings of the people she interviewed.

Put the two together and you have Monday’s hot take from Salon: these anonymous Salon conservatives have formed a sort of fact-checking service that has right-wingers trembling in fear.

The Intellectual Dark Web conservatives fear https://t.co/Hf1iFUWBsv

— Salon (@Salon) September 2, 2018

Ooh, spooky. Tell us more, Salon:

… since Trump took control of the White House, there has been a more aggressive push to discredit certain conservative personalities and websites. CNN’s Brian Stelter has taken on some of the responsibility, as his show “Reliable Sources” seeks to call out journalistic malpractice from all sides.

Nevertheless, the most formidable group that has consistently held conservative media’s feet to the fire this past year or two has been a handful of anonymous Twitter accounts. These anonymous Twitter accounts — or anons — have fact-checked and criticized conservative journalism to the point that the right can no longer ignore them. Their media criticism has now become mainstream, frustrating conservatives who see this as a blatant attempt to delegitimize and silence right-wing voices.

How is it that people who spend all day, every day, bashing and assailing those on the political right considered to be “real conservatives”? If they have dedicated themselves to the destruction of the right, that makes them liberals/progressives. Yes?

— Ian McKelvey (@ian_mckelvey) September 3, 2018

Of course, Salon presents a handful of anonymous Salon conservatives who trashed Zito as heroes, and like we said, Zito addressed the claims herself, and not out of fear, we’d say.

Alex Parker had a look at the claims against Zito this week as well, and his work deserves an airing here. (His thread was linked to in Salon’s piece as “a good faith effort” but none of his tweets were included — imagine that.)

Sooo—that thread going around–from the anonymous, newly created account–purporting to show that @SalenaZito has been dressing up GOP officials as Rust Belt Dems is….not honest. At all. pic.twitter.com/BEsPhxadSL

— Alex Parker (@AlexParkerDC) August 29, 2018

Really? Neil Shaffer is chairman of an county Republican party in Iowa? No shit, Sherlock. That's why Zito interviewed him. And she states in the book. pic.twitter.com/b1XQaWxJJk

— Alex Parker (@AlexParkerDC) August 29, 2018

This part is true–Dawn Martin was a candidate for Lake County commissioner. The election was earlier this month. She was also county GOP secretary, it's unclear for how long. So why did this woman suddenly get so interested in local GOP politics? pic.twitter.com/X9tDm97z1b

— Alex Parker (@AlexParkerDC) August 29, 2018

Hmmm, such a mystery. It might have something to do with her husband, elected as a Republican county sheriff in 2016. A fact which Zito cleverly hid by mentioning it five pages in. pic.twitter.com/9vEtJtvya0

— Alex Parker (@AlexParkerDC) August 29, 2018

"Rod" claims Zito describes Paula Bloomstine as a "Democratic donor." Actually, she describes how Bloomstine went from being a supporter of Erie's 2008 Dem Congresswoman to an impassioned advocate for the 2010 GOP challenger. This is *breathtakingly* dishonest. pic.twitter.com/okTQE10ACh

— Alex Parker (@AlexParkerDC) August 29, 2018

Zito describes David Rubbico as a lifelong Dem & Obama voter, who went over to Trump. But he's actually a county GOP committee-person, w/a habit of writing angry anti-Obama letters to the Erie, Pa. paper. Pretty damning, right?

— Alex Parker (@AlexParkerDC) August 29, 2018

Zito, in her response, notes that he only recently ran county committee-person–and this is verifiably true. And his letters are a recent activity. Does it seem improbable that he voted for Obama? Maybe. Maybe that's why she interviewed him!

— Alex Parker (@AlexParkerDC) August 29, 2018

(If you're wondering how I verified that, there's more in heaven and Earth than a Google search. County committee is an elected position and the election was in 2018. https://t.co/PMStQ4d2xa In the prior 2014 election, the committeeperson was John Voli. https://t.co/DpMaDxBsYy)

— Alex Parker (@AlexParkerDC) August 29, 2018

I could go on, but you see the con by now. In all cases, the person either was never presented as a Dem, or only recently became a Republican official. Cynthia Sacco wasn't supposed to be a hard Dem, but representative of Macomb Co., one of the most famous U.S. bellweathers.

— Alex Parker (@AlexParkerDC) August 29, 2018

I wouldn't describe myself as huge fan of @SalenaZito's work. (Tho "seriously, not literally" was one of the best lines of 2016.) I haven't read her book. But, frankly, I'm aghast that this got so much circulation, including from journalists.

— Alex Parker (@AlexParkerDC) August 29, 2018

Maybe I'm a crusty, old-school Rust Belt Midwesterner, but I'd never retweet an attack on a colleague's credibility, no matter how much I disagreed with their work, unless I knew it was something I could stand by. It's clear that's not the case for those who RTed this garbage.

— Alex Parker (@AlexParkerDC) August 29, 2018

I really have no opinion on whether the side-by-side comparisons by @UrbanAchievr, @KT_So_It_Goes or others indicate that the quotes are fabricated. (Which would seem to be mutually exclusive w/these scurrilous charges.) I'm unconvinced, but others can judge.

— Alex Parker (@AlexParkerDC) August 29, 2018

Indeed, others can do their own detective work if they feel it necessary, but it’d be cool if they’d use their real names rather than setting up anonymous accounts for the sole purpose of criticizing someone else’s work.

Related:

YAAAAAS QUEEN! Salena Zito refuses to be bullied by mob of vicious TROLLS, defends her work in EPIC thread https://t.co/3zAJSaAJy4

— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) August 31, 2018