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Yahoo! News correspondent Alexander Nazaryan became the latest journalist to suffer fierce social media backlash for suggesting that the passing of Donald Trump’s presidency into history is cause for lament.
Politico’s Ben White recently felt the sting of rebuke when he posted an A Few Good Men parody tweet that urged people to admit “You want him tweeting those tweets,” and on Thursday morning, The Atlantic published Nazaryan’s variation on the theme, entitled and sub-headlined “I Miss the Thrill of Trump; Without quite meaning to, Trump reminded journalists that their relationship to power should be adversarial.”
The article itself is no less intentionally provocative, heavy on World War II imagery like “he didn’t exactly relegate us to the concentration camp for the unflattering stories we published. Cable news, more like it,” and “Covering the administration was thrilling for many journalists, in the way that I imagine storming Omaha Beach must have been for a 20-year-old fresh from the plains of Kansas.”
But the premise was largely summed up in that sub-hed, and applied to the administration of President Joe Biden with commentary like this:
I know, I know, boring tweets are a small price to pay to no longer have to endure a presidency that daily vacillated between the hapless and the malicious. The new administration would like you to believe that boring tweets and press briefings that don’t end up as professional wrestling matches are a sign of competence. They well could be. They could also lull reporters into a chummy complacency, especially given that many of those reporters are bound to be impressed by the outward prestige of the new administration, rife as it is with Ivy Leaguers who collect credentials the way squirrels collect acorns.
The reviews were not kind. Journalists and other verified users across the left, right, and center derided the article en masse.
congratulations to everyone who didn’t write this: https://t.co/hpXsqT7BrN
— Jason Linkins (@dceiver) February 11, 2021
this was actually published:
<Covering the administration was thrilling for many journalists, in the way that I imagine storming Omaha Beach must have been for a 20-year-old fresh from the plains of Kansas. >https://t.co/awEnCinkRh
— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) February 11, 2021
News outlets are run by mid-witshttps://t.co/ADL5lJB72C pic.twitter.com/IoU243RxJn
— Tim Pool (@Timcast) February 11, 2021
Trying to think of a worse and more cringe-inducing sentence published in the past five years. Coming up empty. https://t.co/jbX0oXKrBz pic.twitter.com/MomRUq8KXI
— John McCormack (@McCormackJohn) February 11, 2021
“Covering the administration was thrilling for many journalists, in the way that I imagine storming Omaha Beach must have been for a 20-year-old fresh from the plains of Kansas.”
If I EVER compare my job to D-Day, please beat the fucking shit out of me.https://t.co/qU0l1t9glj— Jim Saksa (@saksappeal) February 11, 2021
This guy, @alexnazaryan, can seriously go fuck himself. Half a million dead from Trump incompetence, Q, insurrection, bullying, rampant misogyny, bigotry and racism, but his tweets were entertaining! https://t.co/TPE6eF1Ku8
— Markos Moulitsas (@markos) February 11, 2021
Who hurt you https://t.co/QctsCJOvQ3
— Alex Palombo (@AlexPalombo) February 11, 2021
I have not-great takes from time to time, but I can always look back on this take to know I’ve never had a take this bad. https://t.co/Dqs76SOP9H
— David B. Larter (@DavidLarter) February 11, 2021
I dunno, I think it’s kind of refreshing that he admits this! https://t.co/SpCfLPUG0Y pic.twitter.com/lLGAwo2SmY
— Olga Khazan (@olgakhazan) February 11, 2021
As an alternative perspective to whatever this weird offensive rambling thing going around is: https://t.co/2DW1B302rH
May I recommend @KatyTurNBC‘s 2016 memoir: https://t.co/jcANTB0jnE
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) February 11, 2021
on the one hand, I appreciate the nod at “she” in a profession that often defaults to “he.”
on the other, I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative.https://t.co/tfzA5t6ZVo pic.twitter.com/q2GovsP0ic
— Kara Voght (@karavoght) February 11, 2021
im sure its an oversight @alexnazaryan hasn't tweeted out his piece. pic.twitter.com/8wu401MxTa
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) February 11, 2021
In Nazaryan’s defense, a series of pipe bomb attacks certainly could arguably be seen as having the effect of focusing the mind.
Update: The headline has been stealth-changed to “I Was an Enemy of the People.”
the atlantic has now changed the headline without a single editorial notation. lol. pic.twitter.com/T2GMJpbD6G
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) February 11, 2021
The post Latest Entry in ‘Journalists Miss Trump’ Canon Sparks Fierce Backlash on Twitter first appeared on Mediaite.