Biggest leak yet for Trump falls prey to media paternalism

The Atlantic announced today that its editor was inadvertently added to a group text including the Vice President, CIA Director, Secretary of Defense and National Security Advisor where they discussed Yemen war moves and other matters of national security. The Trump administration’s carelessness would soon be outdone by the squeamishness of the magazine.

Editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg took the scoop of a lifetime and chose to act as gatekeeper, publishing only the most innocuous tidbits like what emojis different officials used and their goofy backslapping instead of the actual news. It is one of the worst cases of media paternalism, what I call highchair journalism — open up for your infotainment, here comes the airplane: Trump officials used emojis, LOL! — but also a disturbing reminder of how much the mainstream media have been co-opted by the national security state.

Goldberg makes clear in his article that his standard for publication isn’t newsworthiness, but the mere possibility that the information “could conceivably” be used by adversaries of the United States. The media isn’t or shouldn’t be in the business of helping the government. Like an attorney, the media are supposed to have a duty to their client, the public.

Consider how Goldberg describes his decision to not publish a text sent by CIA Director John Ratcliffe based merely on the possibility that the information “might be interpreted as related to” ongoing intelligence matters:

Then, at 8:26 a.m., a message landed in my Signal app from the user “John Ratcliffe.” The message contained information that might be interpreted as related to actual and current intelligence operations.”

That’s exactly the kind of news the public needs. Is the Houthi campaign cover for a broader war with Iran? How serious is the Trump administration’s consideration of the effects? Or the potential for escalation? Or the potential for any kind of success?

  • Aatube@kbin.melroy.org
    3·
    5 days ago

    His work with The Young Turks started as early as 2018.[18] In 2020, Klippenstein joined The Nation as their D.C. correspondent.[8] On April 30, 2024, Klippenstein announced in his newsletter that he was resigning from The Intercept and would primarily work on his own.[5]

    On September 26, 2024, Klippenstein shared a dossier on vice-presidential candidate JD Vance, reportedly hacked from the Trump campaign and subsequently leaked by Iran, in his newsletter and linked to it from his X account.[19][20] Klippenstein’s Twitter account was then suspended.[21]

    On December 10, 2024, Klippenstein published an alleged full text manifesto of Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the killing of Brian Thompson.[22] In an interview with Democracy Now!, Klippenstein blamed paternalistic attitudes in corporate media and the possibility of alienating law enforcement sources for the reluctance to publish the alleged manifesto’s full text.[23][24]