NEW: I spoke to longtime NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik about Ben Smith’s incomprehensible newsletter and, naturally, the Nuzzi/RFK Jr. fiasco. He had *a lot* to say. Our full conversation here:
The longtime media reporter sounds off.
Boy, he is extending a lot of grace to Smith. His reading of Smith's closing line ("tell your editor about your dalliances") is that Smith is asking for his journalists to consult with him about ethics; my read of it was that Smith just doesn't want to get scooped if a writer becomes the story.
He called the lack of transparency, the lack of judgement regarding the relationship as a "lapse." The Oxford Dictionary calls a lapse: "A temporary failure of concentration, memory, or judgment." A lapse in when I forget my wallet. Nuzzi's relationship vs work ethics issues were not a "lapse"
Well done. 🙏 Hats off to you.
This is easily explained by Ben hearing that Nuzzi is easy and him being desperate!
This is a great interview
I’m glad Folkenflik says at the end that Smith is essentially just being a little turd in his newsletter because I did wonder what kind of questionable sexual behavior with sources we can expect to find in his past.
Seeing a lot of tut-tutting about this interview in the comments, but this bit here really seems like the best summary of why Nuzzi's behavior is so galling:
I was at a talk David Folkenflik gave at Syracuse University in 2017(?) and I asked him about why NPR and other media don't report when Trump lies about easily disprovable, laws of physics-breaking things and instead just write that he said the thing. He said "Trump may have information we don't."
From now on I am going to require I get some action from reporters who want a juicy quote.
ALT: two women sitting at a table with the words " you sir are a dirtbag " on the bottom