The "1984" Theory of Bari Weiss
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Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Nineteen Eighty-Four
14 min read
The article's central thesis draws heavily on Orwell's novel as an interpretive framework for understanding media behavior and power dynamics. Understanding the novel's concepts of doublethink, reality control, and O'Brien's interrogation methods is essential context for the author's argument about Weiss performing submission to power.
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Paramount Global
10 min read
The article discusses how Paramount's pending acquisition by the Ellison family and their bid for Warner Bros Discovery may have influenced CBS's editorial decisions on the 60 Minutes story. Understanding the corporate structure and ongoing merger battles illuminates the alleged conflict of interest.
If someone keeps advancing despite demonstrable incompetence at public‑reason journalism, perhaps they are doing a different job than advancing public reason—effectively, and deliberately…
Dan Drezner says that Bari Weiss’s claims, and her allies claims, that she had valid editorial objections to the “60 Minutes” El Salvadorian GULAG Trumpist deportations story are horseshit:
Dan Drezner: The Amateurism of Bari Weiss <https://danieldrezner.substack.com/p/the-amateurism-of-bari-weiss>: ‘Weiss fails to comprehend the difference between reading about the abuse of prisoners in CECOT and watching video demonstrating the same. This is the kind of story where video packs a much bigger wallop…. The segment would have been stronger with an on-the-record interview with Miller or Homan…. But—and this is a very important but—it’s not obvious to me how Weiss or 60 Minutes producers could have secured such interviews…. Third… damning… is… Weiss[’s], “but what about all the violent criminals Trump did deport?” schtick[. It] puts the lie to her faux-balance horseshit and convenient hypocrisies. The CECOT story is not about any deportations of violent criminals. It is about the Trump administration disregarding proper evidentiary standards and the rule of law…
He notes the possibility that it was a political decision, writing “at worst she’s ham-handedly trying to help appease Trump in the interest of promoting her boss’ business empire”. Because:
Paramount’s [has a] hostile bid [in] to buy Warner Brothers Discovery (WBD)…. [Frida Ghitis:] “Trump sent a message that he was unhappy with ‘60 Minutes’ since the Ellisons bought CBS…. Paramount clearly understood: ‘60 Minutes’ would have to treat him better. It’s reasonable to conclude that this is the reason CBS did not broadcast the story…. Shelving a ‘60 Minutes’ story critical of the administration only moments before it’s about to air, in the middle of a battle for the president’s approval of a merger, is not routine. And the timeline here… is damning…
But then he backs off, a bit. And so Drezner concludes:
At best, Bari Weiss is unserious and unschooled about her job…. In either case, she is not very good at her job…
But I have a different view: Suppose that people do succeed, even though you think they are not good at doing their job. What should your response be? Perhaps the right response is one of Bayesian humility, of stepping back and asking what the job that they are doing really is. Quite probably it is a different
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