Why does Slate‘s Dave Weigel have to be so bitchy about a story he didn’t write? Shockingly, writers can have new ideas, information and thoughts on a similar subject that he wrote about in 2010. Reid Cherlin‘s Politico Magazine story on the right-wing media, which included large portions about The Daily Caller, was by no means a poor imitation of Weigel’s apparent masterpiece. My personal feelings about Weigel aside – it’s a little dickish that he fakes his regret of JournoList – Weigel’s ego-laced reaction to Cherlin’s piece was pretty petty.
Weigel in translation: Oh that’s cute, Politico, you little nothing. I wrote and made this lukewarm, obvious, vanilla point four years ago.
But actually, Weigel and Cherlin’s stories aren’t all that similar. So Weigel made the brilliant point that The Daily Caller is sold on being the HuffPost of the right. Beyond that, vast differences in style and content abound.
So carry on Cherlin. Don’t fret over Weigel’s bitchiness.
Reid Cherlin’s Politico Magazine piece about “the HuffPo-ization of the right” is a fun read, if a little late. Is it news that Tucker Carlson’s magazine, the Daily Caller, is a sort of answer to the dishy, news-plus-sideboob style of the Huffington Post? Exactly four years ago I published an interview with Carlson about the about-to-be-launched site, “along the lines of the Huffington Post”—his words Well, whatever. Cherlin’s right that the new online right media draws more from the blog/Internet era, less from the tradition of thick policy journals.
Update: Weirdly, Cherlin admits he’s one of those people who expresses gratitude when he’s insulted. So he welcomed Weigel’s bitchfest. On Twitter he said, “Dave Weigel’s take on my piece for on [sic] conservative media makes a lot of good points.” (NO, IT DOES NOT, REID.) To The Mirror he added, “When I read Dave’s take my first thought, as always, was ‘wow, someone read my piece!’ And then reading through it I thought his points were valid. So actually I didn’t object at all.”
Note to readers: The Mirror is using this older photograph of Weigel because we liked his puffed up hairstyle, such incredibly body, and it’s probably more like what he looked like four years ago when he penned his brilliant story.