Journalism

Young cannibals By David Benjamin “Q: What’s the difference between cannibals and liberals? “A: Cannibals don’t eat their own.” — Lyndon Johnson MADISON, Wis. — According to the New York Times’ TV show, “The Weekly,” the new rallying cry of the post-pubescent left in America is “Green New Deal.” Although only a slogan, it signifies…

The Popinjay principle By David Benjamin “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” — attributed variously to Mark Twain, Josh Billings, Artemus Ward, etc. PARIS — I was scheduled to address the Paris chapter of the British National; Union of Journalists…

“If true…” by David Benjamin “ ‘One [option] is, try to figure out right this minute what the truth is, when you have no way of knowing. Or two, and both social media and cable news are a little bit at war with this: Wait a minute.’” — Richard Tofel, president, ProPublica MADISON, Wis. —…

A morning stroll through the genuine news by David Benjamin “It’s important that people from across the political spectrum speak out about the country’s commitment to the rule of law and the core values underlying it — that the criminal justice system should be nonpartisan and independent, that a free press and public criticism should…

Get out of the kitchen by David Benjamin “Can you see why some of us are whispering? It is the sense of viciousness lying in wait, of violent hate just waiting to be unfurled, that leads people to keep their opinions to themselves, or to share them only with close friends.” — Katie Roiphe PARIS…

My name is David Benjamin and I approve this message by David Benjamin “Posting a malicious rumor on Facebook, or writing a false news story that is indexed by Google, is a nearly instantaneous process. Removing such posts require human intervention. This imbalance gives an advantage to rulebreakers.” — Kevin Roose, “The Shift,” New York…

It’s all about the weld by David Benjamin “What a newspaper needs in its news, in its headlines, and on its editorial page is terseness, humor, descriptive power, satire, originality, good literary style, clever condensation and accuracy, accuracy, accuracy.” — Joseph Pulitzer MADISON, Wis. — For one sweltering summer in Orlando, I was a cub steelworker.…