Marc Caputo covers Florida for POLITICO, and on Tuesday, he tweeted something that caught the eye of quite a few of his followers.
In 2015, I warned a DNC staffer that the party wasn’t registering enough Florida voters. Pshaw! I was told; Dems got it. They didn’t.
In 2017-18, I warned Florida Dems the same thing, got the same answer & the same result happened@steveschale gets ithttps://t.co/BPDA4AuAZp
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) March 19, 2019
If you’re like us, you’re probably wondering why a reporter covering the election was warning the DNC about its voter registration effort in Florida. And after that, you’re wondering if he’s saying the quiet part out loud, or if this is just how it’s done.
Be warned, though; some who called out Caputo on his tweet were informed they were probably the ones bringing bias into the equation.
ahh i see the media objectivity continues
— lj primo (@ljprimo31) March 20, 2019
The dishonest trolling certainly does
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) March 20, 2019
Why are you giving advice to Democrats? Doesn’t that make you an advocate and not a journalist?
— Common Sense (@Paine_1776) March 20, 2019
I can understand the question considering the lie from the guy who got you here https://t.co/vWjlFVXHUj
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) March 20, 2019
It’s not a lie to directly quote your Tweet that you “warned a DNC staffer” about voter registrations in FL. Explain exactly how it’s a journalists job to warn a political party about the dangers they face. You are an advocate. Not a journalist.
— Common Sense (@Paine_1776) March 20, 2019
It’s not advocacy. It’s stating facts. They said they were doing this, that it was enough. I said it was not enough for their intended purpose. Reporters all the time point out deficiencies in arguments.
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) March 20, 2019
Well then your phrasing sucks. Warning someone connotes a consultancy relationship. If you had a journalists mindset you would say you challenged them in their FL strategy. Instead you present yourself as a partner. Frankly your approach is quite disturbing.
— Common Sense (@Paine_1776) March 20, 2019
Ever consider that you have the bias here?
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) March 20, 2019
Actually, No. Every word I’ve typed is true and you know it. Your bias is revealed by your phrasing choices. You work for Politico for Heavens sake. That’s where bias goes for fertilizer.
— Common Sense (@Paine_1776) March 20, 2019
OK, we’ll leave it up to the readers — who has the bias here? Was Caputo just reporting on a fact, or is “warning a DNC staffer” about the Democratic Party’s efforts bordering on an advisory role?
We’re assuming when Caputo says in his response he “was pointing out how thoroughly dishonest Derek’s take is,” we’re going to assume he means this Derek:
Why is a "journalist" for @politico giving campaign advice to the Democratic Party? https://t.co/QaJ8EJ4Fro
— Derek Hunter (@derekahunter) March 20, 2019
Honest question: if reporters are handing out advice, do they include the Republican Party too?
Hmm…mighty chummy of you.
— Leon (@LeonGoudikian) March 20, 2019
"Reporter"?
— PeteInJersey (@PeteInJersey) March 20, 2019
You’re a reporter????
— Anton Pagi (@AntonPagi) March 20, 2019
Cheerleading for Democrats again, Marc?
— Bob Sikes (@BobSikes) March 20, 2019
Journos don't take sides… https://t.co/dy0D3tLbrc
— GoSellCrazy… (@rrobertschwartz) March 20, 2019
Why are you advising a political party? https://t.co/yNfQBsiyV9
— Peter Savodnik (@petersavodnik) March 20, 2019
Hmmm, is it the role of a journalist to "warn" a political party of what it must do to win an election?
— Tom Tillison (@TomT_FL) March 19, 2019
if you watch a football game, the neutral commentators will tell you what each side needs to do to win or explain why they are losing. It doesn’t change their neutrality. That’s all Marc is doing.
— G-Shell (@gwshel) March 19, 2019
Yeah, but the neutral commentators are speaking to the audience, not the players and coaches.
The difference is, the commentator is not telling one of the two teams what they must do.
— Tom Tillison (@TomT_FL) March 19, 2019
How long have you been a Democrat party advisor, @MarcACaputo?
I thought you had a different job, like journalist or something?
— Tom (@tweets4tom) March 20, 2019
So, is this just a question of phrasing, or is it exactly what it sounds like? Can we get Brian Stelter in on this?
WTF-EVER! POLITICO takes ‘Republicans POUNCE’ to a whole new level of STUPID with this headline on AOC, Omar, and Tlaib https://t.co/iX1SGWwtxr
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) February 12, 2019