If journalists were serious about preserving the integrity of their profession, they’d be calling for the head of Bloomberg’s Ben Penn. After his disgraceful and downright dishonest hit job on Leif Olson, Penn deserves to be run out on a rail.
But the silence has been pretty deafening thus far.
No tweets about @benjaminpenn’s smear job from either @brianstelter or @oliverdarcy. Because I guess it’s not a media story?
— Luke Thompson (@ltthompso) September 3, 2019
That’s OK. At least Vox’s Dylan Matthews is willing to address it.
This is partly about a dumb social media controversy and mostly about how I think social media outrage can govern itself, and why instances like this (and debunking the "white power symbol" Zina Bush nonsense) are important to that process https://t.co/sLKpAQQrBK
— Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt) September 3, 2019
Mocking anti-Semitism got Trump official Leif Olson falsely accused of actual anti-Semitism — and people of all ideological stripes came together to defend him https://t.co/YlyuPu6cKj
— Vox (@voxdotcom) September 3, 2019
Except here’s the thing: Matthews is defending Penn.
The tweet was promising, but alas: https://t.co/fFXTU9fd3e
— Boomieleaks (@notwokieleaks) September 3, 2019
Vox has a take. pic.twitter.com/9cBBZus9PJ
— Boomieleaks (@notwokieleaks) September 3, 2019
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God forbid they unequivocally call Penn out.
"honest mistake"
ah yes, defending liars trying to sabotage people. how just.
— random thoughts (@musings_n) September 3, 2019
Vox always has a take. But how do you defend Penn as he continues to try to defame Olson, when anyone with a brain realizes it was not a mistake. It was a calculated hit piece.
— Josh Arr (@RoyalBTiger1) September 3, 2019
Absolutely calculated. Penn himself essentially confirmed it.
Good time to once again mention how around 99 percent of "mistakes" happen to skew in the same ideological direction. https://t.co/wLL57fCeTx
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) September 3, 2019
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Related:
Statement from Bloomberg: ‘We stand behind’ Ben Penn’s despicable smear job on Leif Olson