I've been a journalist probably longer than you have, Bari. Back in the days when Larry Rohter was the NYT man in Rio. And I was reporting for The Boston Globe. I recall introducing myself to him at an event ahead of what would be the historic electoral victory of Lula. The Nyt had just bought the globe. I introduced myself, held out my hand.... He looked at me and sat down.
So screw the NYT.
Media needs a house on fire. Trump was that. 9/11 and the bogus Iraq War was that. Covid is that. If your house is burning down, you will use all of your time and efforts to put out the flames. If it is not burning down, then you and every member of your household is: playing on your x box; having a drink with the spouse at the kitchen table; reading junior a bed time story (but not from that rrrrrrrrrrrracist Dr Seuss!); maybe having sex even....is that still a thing? It means your attention is divided and not on them. They need stress and drama and fear and panic. It's a totally toxic industry cuz working to put out and start fires all day is meaningless and not sustainable. Nor is it realistic. Nothing burns forever on this good Earth.
Then and now, a common symptom of impending, often violent, dysfunction in society seems to be a widespread affinity for the political hacks who are the titular heads of the 'tribes.' Amongst my own friends and family members I am frequently amazed at the emotional attachments to the media-packaged humans known as politicians where they are often referred to by their first names in revered tones... Seems a little nuts to me.
Ms. Weiss - politically speaking we are not closely aligned but on a human level I am a huge fan, especially as you champion common sense, collegiality, and personal courage. I greatly admire you and your eloquence.
Bari, I look forward to your future commentary. It is 2/25/2021 and I have been wondering when and where your voice would appear. Veritas and Virtue are critical in a world of simple explanations.
"Please spare me the impoverished argument about the free market and private companies not being bound by the constitution. Barring businesses from using online payment systems; removing companies from the App Store; banning people from social media — these are the equivalent of telling people they can’t open a bank account or start a business or drive down a street."
I don't know what argument is about "the free market", but private companies are, in fact, private, and generally immune to government interference. To be sure, government can interfere, but it's not something to be done lightly, and I have yet to hear a method that stands a chance of changing things here for the better.
Furthermore, telling someone he can't open an account at your bank is something the bank should be able to do. If the applicant is from a protected class then it's a violation of the Civil Rights Act of '64, but otherwise I'd be interested to hear what the problem is. It's obviously not comparable to opening a business and driving down the street, which are essentially between you and the government.
And I don't know David Sacks, except that I just read an essay of his on the Persuasion site wherein he pushes a conspiracy theory. So, not a good first impression.
I actually do have a suggestion for reining in some of the craziness of our politics on social media. It's technically feasible, it scales and it's minimally intrusive: Ban memes. Treat them like child pornography. Yes, we'll miss out on some cute kitten pictures, but it'll be worth it.
I think you are onto something here. Your NYTimes resignation stuck out at me in numerous ways. It made me think of when I was six and I played with other kids on the public playground. There was often this one kid on the playground who couldn't seem to accept static rules and would just change them whenever it suited him and benefited him. If you changed the rules they would just punish you by changing them immediately to something even more punishingly unfair or illogical.
Excellent on so many levels. I am happy to be a subscriber. I have questions and I am hoping you will answer them in the weeks to come.
First, as the unstated premise of much of your current writing, should readers assume that we have already covered and accepted the insanity on the far right so we are now moving on to dealing with the insanity on the far left? They both give me hives but I cannot help but revisit the journey from the destruction of the Fairness Doctrine to Rush Limbaugh to the eventual rise of Fox News (all culminating with 45) and wonder what tools we might suggest to the far-left American tech oligarchs to combat the far-right nonsense with something other than suppressing free speech? How did this game of chess - each side’s moves causing the other to react - lead us here?
And how, when so many on both radical sides need to learn some hard lessons and feel the arc of justice, are we to embrace each of them lovingly in order to heal? Is our common morality strong enough to pull them back in? Do they even want to come back?
Here’s hoping your voice joins a chorus of sanity and we find a way to repair long neglected societal bridges.
Bari, please know that there are so many more immune people than anyone out there gives us credit for. I am a right leaning Christian from the South, the very person the tech oligarchs and those towing the progressive line would tell you is a racist homophobic Xenophobe. Yet I believe in love and each individuals ability to live in our great country according to their choosing just as I should be able to. I have found myself over the last 6 months turning off the news, deleting Twitter, and seeking out truth tellers that I can trust, regardless of their position. I WANT to be able to sit across from people I don’t agree with and still be able to laugh, have civil discourse, and love them for who they are, not their political views. It’s is for this reason I have subscribed to your work and look forward to reading more from you. God bless you and all that you are doing.
Great piece! It is so scary to see no voice for reason in the mainstream news media.
Larry King's death yesterday reminded me about what we are missing. CNN covered it nearly all day long, but in the hour long retrospective look back on his career and life they couldn't once offer more than a 10 second interchange between King and someone. They summed up everything about who he interviewed and forgot about the fact that he saw humanity in everyone and took the time to allow us to understand where they were coming from, rather than simply offering a sound-bite with a rabid ferocity if they didn't agree with his (or CNN's) views.
Why is this so difficult for us to have at this moment? And why is it so impossible for mainstream media to offer a balanced (or even close to balanced) approach?
Good luck with this venture! I got a subscription and can't wait to see what happens here.
How to Fight Anti Semitism was a great book, it told the truth. Thank you so much !
Your interview with Megyn Kelly was awesome. It was clear that you both connected in a very special way. The content of the discussion was vital in moving forward against the forces that seek to silence common sense. I’m looking forward to reading more of your articles here on substack.
I've been a journalist probably longer than you have, Bari. Back in the days when Larry Rohter was the NYT man in Rio. And I was reporting for The Boston Globe. I recall introducing myself to him at an event ahead of what would be the historic electoral victory of Lula. The Nyt had just bought the globe. I introduced myself, held out my hand.... He looked at me and sat down.
So screw the NYT.
Media needs a house on fire. Trump was that. 9/11 and the bogus Iraq War was that. Covid is that. If your house is burning down, you will use all of your time and efforts to put out the flames. If it is not burning down, then you and every member of your household is: playing on your x box; having a drink with the spouse at the kitchen table; reading junior a bed time story (but not from that rrrrrrrrrrrracist Dr Seuss!); maybe having sex even....is that still a thing? It means your attention is divided and not on them. They need stress and drama and fear and panic. It's a totally toxic industry cuz working to put out and start fires all day is meaningless and not sustainable. Nor is it realistic. Nothing burns forever on this good Earth.
Tune out. Youll actually learn more that way.
Then and now, a common symptom of impending, often violent, dysfunction in society seems to be a widespread affinity for the political hacks who are the titular heads of the 'tribes.' Amongst my own friends and family members I am frequently amazed at the emotional attachments to the media-packaged humans known as politicians where they are often referred to by their first names in revered tones... Seems a little nuts to me.
Ms. Weiss - politically speaking we are not closely aligned but on a human level I am a huge fan, especially as you champion common sense, collegiality, and personal courage. I greatly admire you and your eloquence.
Bari, I look forward to your future commentary. It is 2/25/2021 and I have been wondering when and where your voice would appear. Veritas and Virtue are critical in a world of simple explanations.
I always loved Heine.
So glad to know about you and the other people you mention in this piece. I didn't realize there was a cohort of like-minded people out there...
Things will improve when more liberals stop being the useful idiots of the Woke Left, and be real classic liberals
"Please spare me the impoverished argument about the free market and private companies not being bound by the constitution. Barring businesses from using online payment systems; removing companies from the App Store; banning people from social media — these are the equivalent of telling people they can’t open a bank account or start a business or drive down a street."
I don't know what argument is about "the free market", but private companies are, in fact, private, and generally immune to government interference. To be sure, government can interfere, but it's not something to be done lightly, and I have yet to hear a method that stands a chance of changing things here for the better.
Furthermore, telling someone he can't open an account at your bank is something the bank should be able to do. If the applicant is from a protected class then it's a violation of the Civil Rights Act of '64, but otherwise I'd be interested to hear what the problem is. It's obviously not comparable to opening a business and driving down the street, which are essentially between you and the government.
And I don't know David Sacks, except that I just read an essay of his on the Persuasion site wherein he pushes a conspiracy theory. So, not a good first impression.
I actually do have a suggestion for reining in some of the craziness of our politics on social media. It's technically feasible, it scales and it's minimally intrusive: Ban memes. Treat them like child pornography. Yes, we'll miss out on some cute kitten pictures, but it'll be worth it.
I think you are onto something here. Your NYTimes resignation stuck out at me in numerous ways. It made me think of when I was six and I played with other kids on the public playground. There was often this one kid on the playground who couldn't seem to accept static rules and would just change them whenever it suited him and benefited him. If you changed the rules they would just punish you by changing them immediately to something even more punishingly unfair or illogical.
Excellent on so many levels. I am happy to be a subscriber. I have questions and I am hoping you will answer them in the weeks to come.
First, as the unstated premise of much of your current writing, should readers assume that we have already covered and accepted the insanity on the far right so we are now moving on to dealing with the insanity on the far left? They both give me hives but I cannot help but revisit the journey from the destruction of the Fairness Doctrine to Rush Limbaugh to the eventual rise of Fox News (all culminating with 45) and wonder what tools we might suggest to the far-left American tech oligarchs to combat the far-right nonsense with something other than suppressing free speech? How did this game of chess - each side’s moves causing the other to react - lead us here?
And how, when so many on both radical sides need to learn some hard lessons and feel the arc of justice, are we to embrace each of them lovingly in order to heal? Is our common morality strong enough to pull them back in? Do they even want to come back?
Here’s hoping your voice joins a chorus of sanity and we find a way to repair long neglected societal bridges.
good stuff Bari. Keep it up. Your interview with MK brought me here.
Just subscribed, excited for what this column becomes.
Bari, please know that there are so many more immune people than anyone out there gives us credit for. I am a right leaning Christian from the South, the very person the tech oligarchs and those towing the progressive line would tell you is a racist homophobic Xenophobe. Yet I believe in love and each individuals ability to live in our great country according to their choosing just as I should be able to. I have found myself over the last 6 months turning off the news, deleting Twitter, and seeking out truth tellers that I can trust, regardless of their position. I WANT to be able to sit across from people I don’t agree with and still be able to laugh, have civil discourse, and love them for who they are, not their political views. It’s is for this reason I have subscribed to your work and look forward to reading more from you. God bless you and all that you are doing.
Great piece! It is so scary to see no voice for reason in the mainstream news media.
Larry King's death yesterday reminded me about what we are missing. CNN covered it nearly all day long, but in the hour long retrospective look back on his career and life they couldn't once offer more than a 10 second interchange between King and someone. They summed up everything about who he interviewed and forgot about the fact that he saw humanity in everyone and took the time to allow us to understand where they were coming from, rather than simply offering a sound-bite with a rabid ferocity if they didn't agree with his (or CNN's) views.
Why is this so difficult for us to have at this moment? And why is it so impossible for mainstream media to offer a balanced (or even close to balanced) approach?
Good luck with this venture! I got a subscription and can't wait to see what happens here.
How to Fight Anti Semitism was a great book, it told the truth. Thank you so much !
Your interview with Megyn Kelly was awesome. It was clear that you both connected in a very special way. The content of the discussion was vital in moving forward against the forces that seek to silence common sense. I’m looking forward to reading more of your articles here on substack.
Just subscribed. My civic duty.
Got a subscription. Hooray for sanity. Thank you.