A prominent conservative was given a small, temporary space to say something at a major publication, so naturally, it was only a matter of time before the group therapy sessions for liberal journalists would commence.
At Politico, that time is now.
The Daily Beast reported Tuesday that more than 100 staffers at the Washington, D.C.-based newspaper had signed a letter to Publisher Robert Allbritton complaining (again) about author Ben Shapiro’s authorship of an edition of “Playbook,” the company’s widely read daily newsletter.
“In the note to their publisher,” the report said, “the Politico staffers called for a commitment to clarify and improve the outlet’s editorial standards; an increase in newsroom diversity; an editor’s note on Shapiro’s edition of Playbook; and an internal apology for the decision to publish the provocateur.”
Shapiro was just one of a cast of high-profile figures in political media who had been chosen to author the newsletter for a day, in which he said nothing remarkable, other than to give an explanation for why the vast majority of congressional Republicans did not support impeaching former President Donald Trump. For that transgression, staffers are now demanding race quotas, apologies, and disclaimers from the outlet’s top editor.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if they got all of it. A spokesperson for Politico only said that they were handling it internally, but this episode isn’t unique to Politico, and it’s not especially rare among the national news media at all.
In just the past year, staffers at the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times have made similar demands and were met by management that all more or less agreed to the terms, even if not with immediate action. (It even happened at the Wall Street Journal, where staff on the news side complained about certain views printed in the opinion pages, but the editors on that side told them to take a hike.)
That’s social justice in action — claim to have been aggrieved even by just the very presence of a person you disagree with and then demand compensation. Welcome to the party, Politico!
