The Clinton Rules from the inside
by digby
I can hardly believe my eyes, but here is political reporter Jonathan Allen validating what some of us have been saying for a couple of decades in this piece called Confessions of a Clinton reporter: The media’s 5 unspoken rules for covering Hillary
1) Everything, no matter how ludicrous-sounding, is worthy of a full investigation by federal agencies, Congress, the “vast right-wing conspiracy,” and mainstream media outlets
2) Every allegation, no matter how ludicrous, is believable until it can be proven completely and utterly false. And even then, it keeps a life of its own in the conservative media world.
3) The media assumes that Clinton is acting in bad faith until there’s hard evidence otherwise.
4) Everything is newsworthy because the Clintons are the equivalent of America’s royal family
5) Everything she does is fake and calculated for maximum political benefit
There’s a whole lot to it and he helpfully documents many examples that prove his point, but it comes down to this:
The Clinton rules are driven by reporters’ and editors’ desire to score the ultimate prize in contemporary journalism: the scoop that brings down Hillary Clinton and her family’s political empire. At least in that way, Republicans and the media have a common interest.
I wrote about this recently at Salon in this piece, characterizing their obsession as Ahab-like. It started out as payback for Watergate back in the day. And then it just took on a life of its own.
This piece shows that at least some members of the press have an awareness of this dynamic. I don’t know if it will make them question themselves.
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