The one offender Smith does name is Brian Stelter, the host of CNN's "Reliable Sources" (and Times alumnus) who routinely casts himself as the conscience of journalism, who told him "you can see Tucker's fingerprints all over" his anti-Fox book, "Hoax."
Ben Smith |
"Tucker Carlson is the left's "current Bogeyman No. 2, after Donald Trump," observes J. Peder Zane in a commentary at Real Clear Politics, and I think he is right. Night after night, Carlson goes in depth uncovering hypocrisies, lies, and outrages being perpetrated by the powerful and connected elites that run the country and its media. So, as with Trump, powerful members of the media are willing to break the old rules of journalism to take him down.
"The object of Zane's critique is Ben Smith, formerly the editor of BuzzFeed and now a columnist for the New York Times.
The New York Times has decided it is fine to out a confidential source — provided his name is Tucker Carlson. Its media columnist, Ben Smith, reports that the Fox News star is "the go-to guy for sometimes-unflattering stories about Donald J. Trump and for coverage of the internal politics of Fox News (not to mention stories about Mr. Carlson himself)."
Breaking a cardinal rule of journalistic ethics, Smith identifies Carlson as one of his own "off-the-record" sources. So, too, did "16 other journalists ... [who] told me on background that he has been, as three of them put it, 'a great source.'" . . .More...