And I’ll say it again: The main reason journalism is so shitty is that so many of today’s media “stars” had no real journalism experience or training. For example, Olivia Nuzzi, lately of New York Magazine.
According to Wikipedia, she began her writing career as a teenager in 2011, as a monthly political columnist for the triCityNews, an alt weekly based in Asbury Park, New Jersey. She also wrote for More Monmouth Musings, a politically conservative blog and news website. Then she freelanced.
Then she was hired by the Daily Beast, still without any journalism training or experience, while she was a college student. (I’ve seen this career path again and again: No actual journalism experience, but a knack for writing snarky essays that get clicks. I don’t care that these people get jobs; I resent that they’re passed off as “journalists.” Then everyone’s shocked that they don’t have any ethics.)
These people are all over the place, unfortunately.
This story is cray-cray, and oddly enough, I believe her that she and RFK2 didn’t actually knock boots. Sounds like there was a seduction of some kind, but who knows? She put herself in a position where Bobby Kennedy is now publicly labeling her as a stalker.
Well, you know, lie down with dogs, rise up with fleas.
But the BIG story is that while all this seduction was going on, she wrote a spectacular hit piece on Joe Biden for New York magazine where, using a lot of anonymous sources, made Biden sound one step from Weekend At Bernie’s. The piece pretty much put the nail in Biden’s coffin.
While she was entangled in some kind of mess with RFK2’s opponent. THAT’s the real story. Despite that, all her peers pulled the wagons in a circle and defended her. Of course they did.
It’s never a good idea to put yourself in this position with someone you’re covering, and if you do, you must tell your editor. (Like the time I had to tell my boss a local police officer stuck his tongue down my throat at the town Christmas party. He was drunk, I wasn’t. Eww.)
These things happen. But if you’re fucking the elephants, you can’t expect to cover the circus.
You are such a breath of fresh air, Susie.
I wish it was all people like you all over the media. We’d be living in a different and a better world.
Which is probably why you’re not big in Big Media.
Thanks, hon!