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That Bari Weiss feels confident enough to leave one of the most prestigious jobs in journalism when the entire economy is collapsing tells you all you need to know about how right wing personalities are protected by the safety net of the conservative media welfare state.
We don’t talk enough about how many right wing media outlets, particularly magazine/websites, are essentially subsidized, because of their value in influencing the discourse. They are protected from the same market forces that challenge progressive or even centrist outlets.
There is really no such thing as being unemployed once you reach a certain level of fame in conservative media circles. There’s always another job waiting you leave or lose the one you have. The money teat never runs out. It’s socialism for reactionaries.
The entertainment industry has its own version. That’s why, post-disgrace, Louis CK has taken refuge in a right-wing inversion of his old act, knowing there’s no shortage of people who will pay to hear others complain about how minorities and liberals are “censoring” them.
If I get laid off from my own job, I’m sure this thread is going to be turned against me by right wing Twitter, but I don’t care. I’ve never defended an editorial by a Republican senator encouraging violence against protesters and reporters, which Bari Weiss did near weeks ago.
One of my colleagues at New York Magazine, Andrew Sullivan, was also on the wrong side of that Tom Cotton editorial, and I called him out here, along with Weiss. The culture of the “collegial” workplace undermines humanism. You’re not allowed to get angry because it isn’t polite.
I read that resignation letter and I found it to be 90% bullshit. The Times hired somebody not only actively opposed to the values of much of the reporting staff, but who frequently said and wrote things that made their jobs more miserable, and in one case, more dangerous.
I’m just completely over this idea that “professionalism” means holding your tongue when somebody at your publication, or in your field, says or does something that negatively affects you and people you work with. Where are the “freedom of speech” advocates on this issue?
I am nostalgic for my days at New York press, where extremely right wing, extremely left-wing, and ideologically uncategorizable writers not only had different takes on things, but called each other out in print, by name, from issue to issue.
That’s better than “workplace collegiality,” which in the case of this Weiss situation amounts to a sustained whine that a writer and editor can’t just say all kinds of stupid, insensitive and irresponsible things without fear that coworkers will dare to complain.
What’s the point of internal workplace communication channels if you can’t vent about coworkers doing something that you think is bad/dumb/shitty/irresponsible or whatever? If somebody says that a coworker made a bad call, or is an asshole, must they be euphemistic?
I think the real conversation is about how every conservative media personality’s career narrative is ultimately about martyrdom, even if they leave a place of their own accord because they couldn’t prevent coworkers from complaining about their actions and giving them stinkeye.
