“Impeachmas” Greetings From Unbiased Journalists

Next time some gerbils in the press whine about the terms “fake news” or “media bias” show them a copy of this post.

Because when national news reporters merrily unmask themselves as cheerleaders for the left, the charade of objectivity is over.

With the election of Donald Trump many members of the press corps abandoned all pretense of fairness. It’s rather shocking to old-time journalists who were trained to bury our biases, not put them on display.

For example, it’s likely that many reporters were rooting for impeachment. 

How do we know?

Rachael Bade, for one.

She’s the Washington Post’s congressional reporter and an analyst for CNN. You know, one of The Post’s fair-minded journalists covering the news and keeping the public informed.

On Wednesday night, without fear of being sacked, she merrily Tweeted out a photo of herself and three colleagues - all Post reporters - celebrating the president’s impeachment.

“Merry Impeachmas from the WaPo team!”

“You’re either drunk or nuts,” I replied. One of the more civil responses to her appalling post.

Bade eventually deleted the Tweet. But not before some of us made screenshots.

When I was a reporter, I would have been fired for posting something like that. It would have constituted a journalistic high crime, like plagiarism.

Clean out your desk and security will escort you from the building.

As of this writing, Bade’s still employed. In fact, Washington Post editor Marty Baron called the Tweet “ill-considered” but noted that the reporters were simply chilling after work.

So it’s clear that newspaper brass no longer remind staff members - over and over - that a news outlet’s most treasured possession is the public trust. Once readers see your organization as biased, you lose that trust and you’re in trouble.

When I sent Bade’s Tweet to a former Pilot colleague, his reaction was exactly what I expected.

“Incredibly stupid,” he said. “We’d have been fired for doing that.”

Amen.

In fact, he reminded me that an assistant in the business section of The Pilot was once disciplined for an anti-meat bumper sticker on her car because that section of the paper sometimes covered Smithfield foods.

Shoot, I remember a Pilot memo that went out to all employees in 2008, when Barack Obama was coming to Harbor Park for a political rally. The editor, apparently sensing there was support for the Democrat in the newsroom, cautioned staff that anyone attending the rally who wasn’t working would be in trouble.

When I became a reporter it was made clear that I couldn’t join organizations, sign petitions or attend protest marches. As a result, I never gave a dime to a political candidate. Never had a political yard sign on my property or decal on my car.

That doesn’t mean I didn’t vote or didn’t have opinions, of course I did.

But like all of my newspaper colleagues, I endeavored to maintain a sense of public neutrality.

Many reporters aren’t even trying.

Before Bade deleted the Tweet she posted this: “I’m deleting a tweeting tonight that is being misinterpreted by some as an endorsement of some kind. To be absolutely clear, we at the Post are merely glad we are getting a break for the holidays after a long 3 months. I will retweet the group photo w/a better caption!

Nice try, lady. No one’s buying it.