We’d like to point out that it’s not just conservatives dragging the Washington Post’s Taylor Lorenz today over her article on the Libs of TikTok account. Here’s lib Matthew Yglesias with some legit concerns regarding what she did and how the paper presented it.
First up, he points out that the “problem with the piece is that its *point* is clearly something like ‘Libs of TikTok is bad,'” which Lorenz’s colleagues and defenders don’t see as a problem at all because they, too, see the account as bad:
Okay here is a take on the @TaylorLorenz Libs of TikTok story that is really a defense of my chosen craft of take-slinging.
The problem with the piece is that its *point* is clearly something like "Libs of TikTok is bad."
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) April 19, 2022
As Yglesias points out, Lorenz framed it as a news story and not an opinion piece:
“But because it’s structured as a news story (“here is the identity of the person behind the Libs of TikTok account”) it doesn’t have a clear thesis statement or the attributes of a well-constructed bit of opinion journalism where you defend the thesis against counterarguments.”
But because it's structured as a news story ("here is the identity of the person behind the Libs of TikTok account") it doesn't have a clear thesis statement or the attributes of a well-constructed bit of opinion journalism where you defend the thesis against counterarguments.
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) April 19, 2022
This is not what the WaPo published, or even tried to publish:
I would actually much rather read a well-edited, thesis-driven take from Lorenz about the Libs of TikTok account and why some people think that it's good but in fact it's bad.
After all, which things are good and which are bad is often of great interest.
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) April 19, 2022
Lorenz isn’t going to be happy with this:
“But today we have too much uncanny valley stuff, takes that are structured as news stories often through the alchemy of ‘experts say.'”:
There is also I think great value in straight news reporting — this happened, this happened, that happened, he said this, she said that.
But today we have too much uncanny valley stuff, takes that are structured as news stories often through the alchemy of "experts say."
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) April 19, 2022
In other words, her identity is one big meh and Lorentz didn’t even touch on what’s going on with these teachers making public videos in the first place:
In this case, the identity of the person behind the Libs of TikTok account turns out to be totally uninteresting — she's a random crank!
But both the Libs of TikTok account and the phenomenon of left-wing educators doing TikTok videos (why do they do this??) is interesting.
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) April 19, 2022
Lorenz lashed out at Yglesias over his thread and accused the account of having the goal of “driving LGBTQ ppl out of public life” as her defense:
Yes, an acct whose goal is driving LGBTQ ppl out of public life is bad. Gay/trans ppl targeted by the acct have had their lives destroyed, but the *point* of the story is actually a nuanced look at radicalization & how the right wing outrage cycle functions. That’s worth covering https://t.co/VP6gpqowE8
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) April 19, 2022
And:
This is ultimately a story about how online influence warps our political discourse and shapes policy, as well as the right wing media’s symbiotic relationship w/ a massive political influencer. Read my whole thread below👇🏻 @mattyglesias https://t.co/JgriGSEpq5
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) April 19, 2022
Does Lorenz realize she just proved his point?
The first line of this tweet proves this “journalist” wasn’t writing a news story, but instead sharing a carefully tailored presentation of her predetermined narrative.
Perfect example of the problem with our corporate press. Propaganda presented under the guise of journalism. https://t.co/GsNtIkEMff
— Evan Berryhill (@EvBerryhill) April 19, 2022
You know, maybe public school teachers and public employees in general should get the eff off social media?
This makes no sense. When an adult posts videos online espousing views that are way outside of the mainstream, the people sharing your content are not the ones "driving you out of public life" — you've done that to yourself. https://t.co/cWb6gfFNzF
— Giancarlo Sopo (@GiancarloSopo) April 19, 2022
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