This is more of a rhetorical question, really.
NYU journalism prof Jay Rosen, who could be described as a lefty nerdy jackass in New York-D.C. media circles, went after CNN national political reporter Peter Hamby on Thursday for a story he wrote on the overwhelming media scrum surrounding Hillary Clinton at a recent steak fry in Des Moines, Iowa.
The subject matter is beyond relevant. Should Clinton not run for president, her reasoning may not be in her impending grandchild, but instead in her hatred of the media. “She’s serious about considering a run, but she’s also aware of the price she’s going to have to pay,” said a confidant in this story by Glenn Thrush and Maggie Haberman published in the May/June issue of Politico Magazine.
Maybe Hamby’s best graph:
“One reporter got whacked in the head with the butt of a big television camera. Another photographer dramatically toppled off his ladder while straining to get a shot. It was a little absurd. When the Clintons approached the media zoo for question time, Bill Clinton leaned in and relished the scene. Hillary kept her distance.”
Hamby addresses critics like Rosen who can’t seem to get the stick out of his ass long enough to know why so many reporters needed to be there.
“Couldn’t their time have been better spent reporting on an undercovered Senate or governor’s race in some other part of the country, far away from the rest of the media scrum? Of course, the academics would say. But the incentive structure of today’s click-driven news economy begs to differ. Hillary gets eyeballs. Arkansas’ Tom Cotton does not. This is the world we live in.”
Still, Rosen, who has written for Salon and The Nation and has collaborated with HuffPost, couldn’t quite get over himself. “Cutbacks in newsrooms. Important beats go uncovered. And 200 journalists in Iowa to see HRC grill steak. CNN reports!” he tweets, linking to Hamby’s story.
Blissfully Hamby gave it back to him. And when he does, Rosen acts like what, who me?
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Memo to Rosen, who’s also an “advisor” for First Look Media: Really. Now you want people to read Hamby’s story? What, you didn’t write your obvious insult well enough? Look, here’s the thing, Rosen. If you’re going to be a dick on Twitter, just own it. Don’t walk back your dickishness or try to act like you weren’t insulting Hamby, his story and his network. There’s nothing admirable in that.