Journolist: The People Make (or Break) the Party

verumserum ^ | 7/30/10 | John

[Nachum]

In a widely read and discussed piece at the Daily Beast, Reihan Salan asks:

Has a shadowy gang of left-wing journalists and intellectuals been plotting to manipulate the news cycle…

His answer is, yes, perhaps so, but they’d be doing it with or without Journolist. Salan is more right than he probably knows.

The list of those identified as former members of the group is now up to about 146 names, out of 400 in all. Nearly 1/4 of those individuals were connected with another media organization called the Media Consortium. The Consortium is an organization of progressive media outlets formed in 2005, a full two years before Journolist. Its dues paying member organizations include The Nation, Mother Jones, Talking Points Memo, The American Prospect, Ms., Democracy Now! and many more (a complete list is here). The purpose of the group was explicit and can be found on their website:

Our mission is to amplify independent media’s voice, increase our collective clout, leverage our current audience and reach new ones. We believe it is possible and necessary to seize the current moment and change the debate in this country. We will accomplish this mission by fulfilling our five strategic principles.

* Foster Collaboration and Coordination * Build and Diversify Media Leadership * Focus on Audience Development * Bring Money and Attention into the Sector * Support Innovation in Journalism and Business Models

[beef]

Goebbles would be proud.

[penelopesire]

THE SMOKING GUN!

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Several phrases, such as “Foster Collaboration and Coordination” and “increase our collective clout” seem to be exactly the sort of thing that, at least occasionally, took place on Journolist.

"People of the same trade seldom meet together even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public or some contrivance to raise prices." - Adam Smith

It's not just journolist: The Associated Press performs the same dolorous function.