Failing Journalism 101 to Coddle Trump

Chris Quinn, editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer

Jennifer Rubin in the Washington Post today, on Journalism 101—

“Chris Quinn, editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, wrote to his readers to explain why he will not treat Trump like other politicians:

“The north star here is truth. We tell the truth, even when it offends some of the people who pay us for information.

“The truth is that Donald Trump undermined faith in our elections in his false bid to retain the presidency. He sparked an insurrection intended to overthrow our government and keep himself in power. No president in our history has done worse.

“This is not subjective. We all saw it. Plenty of leaders today try to convince the masses we did not see what we saw, but our eyes don’t deceive. (If leaders began a years-long campaign today to convince us that the Baltimore bridge did not collapse Tuesday morning, would you ever believe them?) Trust your eyes. Trump on Jan. 6 launched the most serious threat to our system of government since the Civil War. You know that. You saw it.

“The facts involving Trump are crystal clear, and as news people, we cannot pretend otherwise, as unpopular as that might be with a segment of our readers. There aren’t two sides to facts. People who say the earth is flat don’t get space on our platforms. If that offends them, so be it.

“Quinn warned, “Our nation does seem to be slipping down the same slide that Germany did in the 1930s. Maybe the collapse of government in the hands of a madman is inevitable, given how the media landscape has been corrupted by partisans, as it was in 1930s Germany.” He hopes that will not be the case but vows that his paper will “do our part.”

“This should be so blindly obvious that every respectable outlet should subscribe to it. That they don’t — and instead reject it — tells us how badly major outlets have forgotten their essential mission.”