Matthew Yglesias » Ezra Klein Hired by Washington Post

Apr 23rd, 2009 at 11:44 am

Ezra Klein Hired by Washington Post

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My very good friend Ezra Klein has been hired by The Washington Post to do a blog for their website, as reported by Mike Calderone. So first off, congratulations to everyone—good for Ezra, great hire for the Post, etc. And beyond this specific move, I think the Washington Post Company has been making a lot of pretty awesome visionary new media decisions lately in terms of The Root.com, the new Foreign Policy.com, Greg Sargent’s thing, etc. All awesome.

That said, to be perfectly honest I do have some concerns about this. After all, one thing all decent progressive blogs do is point out semi-regularly that the Washington Post opinion section is a pretty rotten operation. You have liars like Charles Krauthammer and George Will penning regular columns, alongside less-egregious but still pretty pernicious stuff like David Ignatius’ apologia for war crimes and so forth. There are also good people working there, of course, like E.J. Dionne and Harold Meyerson. But while both of those guys write a lot of great stuff on a lot of important topics, you don’t see them ever writing great stuff on the important topic of how grossly irresponsible it is for an influential entity that wants to be taken seriously as a purveyor of information to be publishing the likes of Krauthammer and Will. That, of course, is the world we live in. People don’t go after their bosses with hatchets. So while hiring Ezra makes the Post less hatchet-worthy, it also means that we’re down a hatchet-wielder. That’s the dark lining in my silver cloud.

Last, let me put in a good word for The American Prospect, which continues to do a great job of developing new journalistic talent and launching it into the universe.

Comments
47

47 Responses to “Ezra Klein Hired by Washington Post”

bdbd Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:47 am
congrats to Ezra — maybe he can do some high profile stuff with George Will
Al Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:49 am
Of course. Left-wing extremist to MSM. Film at 11.
DTM Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:51 am
Do we know that Ezra won’t be able to wield his hatchet as he sees fit?
El Cid Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:55 am
The Pacifica stations like KPFA were often pipelines through which journalists and radio personalities worked their way to NPR and then commercial media.

The new thing I see with blog-related pickups is that it’s up to the readers to decide how much time and attention to spend with the progressive hires, and not as easily up to the media corporation to figure out whether to emphasize or hide them.

I read Glenn Greenwald at Salon in order to read Glenn’s blog, which is hosted by Salon, but is not controlled by Salon. If I continue on to any other Salon content, that’s my choice, not Salon’s. Except for popup ads.
Pedro Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:56 am
Ahhhh, all proceeding according to design, says the Juicebox mafia. (twiddling thumbs)

Congratulations to Mr. Klein!
Hugh Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:59 am
This is really great. Congratulations to Ezra.
Mary Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Wonderful news. Yay for Ezra Klein!
low-tech cyclist Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Excellent news!

And what Matt said about TAP. They do good stuff there.
brewmn Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Well, Bob Somerby is going to be even more self-righteous now.

If that’s possible.
Davis X. Machina Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:21 pm
All this could be yours, too, young Mr. Yglesias, if you’d only learn to spell. And proofread. And edit. Did I mention ’spell’?
Led Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Al is trolling on all cylinders today. Klein is a “left-wing extremist” is by “left-wing extremist” you mean someone who holds views shared by a majority of electorate.
24AheadDotCom Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Shorter MattY: “The Washington Post does not completely do everything Journ ‘o’ List wants.”
random potshot Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Great news for Ezra. Perhaps now he’ll get to share a few stories with Russell Crowe.
Daniel Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:35 pm
Another good thing about this hire is that it’s another of the handful of bloggers who have amde it to the main mainstream i.e. The Washington Post, The New York Times, etc. Of course they already have blogers there but for the most part those are people usually columnists first, bloggers second. Ezra is a blogger first.

My point is that basically, the recent inductions of both Ross and Ezra means
Daniel Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:36 pm
(sorry, I got cut off)

*means that blogging is being taken more seriously as a writing form.
Who bankrolls Lonewacko? Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Shorter Lonewacko: .
flounder Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:46 pm
I’m more into Ben Domenech myself.
Duvall Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:49 pm
I’m more into Ben Domenech myself.
Bob Oso Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Good for Ezra!
Francisco The Man Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Well, good for Ezra.

That said, didn’t the embarassing Garance Franke-Ruta also go to the post a few years back? Whatever happened to her, not that she’s missed.
ba Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:55 pm
MSNBC show host Rachel Maddow has suffered some steep audience erosion in recent months, down more than 40 percent in viewership from her peak last fall during the election.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Maddow’s audience has gone from a high of 1.9 million viewers in the fall to just over 1.1 million in March. That’s a big drop.
eye on the island Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:01 pm
dont forget about slate
Ezra Klein to WaPo Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:07 pm
[...] Matt Yglesias offers his congratulations, which I second. I also concur with Matt’s praise for recent acquisitions at the Post, most notably the superb revamping of ForeignPolicy.com into a blog megaverse. [...]
advice Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Maybe you can clue your boy in on how you managed to become only slightly more douchey when you were surrounded by asshats at The Atlantic Monthly
El Cid Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Aren’t the audiences for all political TV programs now lower since this is no longer the election?
Duvall Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:23 pm
dont forget about slate

Who’s forgetting about Slate? They’ve got a couple of writers that do solid work, but overall it’s still pretty terrible, and hasn’t improved much lately.
cd Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Shorter 24AheadDotCom :
Who bankrolls Lonewacko? Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:32 pm
We see that Lonewacko is whining at Politico, though for some reason, thinks that blogwhoring about Chris Hayes has something to do with Ezra.

Poor Lonewacko, once more left wondering why an obsessive hatemonger like him doesn’t get on TV. Perhaps someone should ask Glenn Beck tough questions and put them up on YouTube?
ABS Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Is Walter Pincus still there? Always liked him too.

However they mysteriously bury his stories on A16
Juicebox Mafia Takeover Part 2: Ezra Klein Moves to WaPo « Around The Sphere Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:58 pm
[...] http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/04/ezra-klein-hired-by-washington-post.php [...]
Duvall Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Pincus and and Dana Priest are still there; Robin Wright and Tom Ricks took buyouts and have left.
gizmo Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 2:23 pm
The inmates are taking over the asylum !
Jamey Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Good business decision. I will read the Post now, as will thousands of others like me.

(Because it’s all about me…)
Jamey Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 3:48 pm
18/Duvall. I see what you did there…
Marshall Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 4:33 pm
I have to think that Ezra’s apparent success at garnering off-the-record statements from administration officials has something to do with his attractiveness as a Post blogger.

I’m not sure you can change the DC establishment from the inside.
fish Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 5:38 pm
That’s one sharp hatchet:

An example of this was Anne Kornblut’s profile of Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina. You could see it as a beat sweetener: A positive, light piece about a key inside player. It even involved a videotaped interview about the hard hours and the difficulty of multitasking. Anne Kornblut is almost certainly more likely to receive a return e-mail from Messina having written it. But it was also a legitimate piece. Messina was worth introducing the The Washington Post’s readership. It was useful to know more about his “father and son” like relationship with Baucus and his role as administration “fixer.” And I think that’s the truth of most beat sweeteners: They’re legitimate profiles with positive side effects.
Capt. Trollypants Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 5:55 pm
Bob Somerby is never right about anything @world

#sarcasm
Apphouse50 Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 6:07 pm
brewmn–

Well, you can say what you like about grumpy ol’ man Bob Somerby, but he’s been taking the hammer to Rachel lately and I have to admit he’s got a point.

It had gotten a little bit silly out there, to say the least. I really like her a lot and want her to do well, but I’m not sure it’s a fabulous time slot and the silly season really needs to stop.
fish Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 7:15 pm
But the hatchet’s too dull dear Ezra dear Ezra:

To me, that’s the crux, that’s why the “Hawks of the Left” must stand their ground on this issue. We don’t like Bush, we don’t trust him or his administration. We wish we could have done things in the correct order, we wish that he hadn’t diplomatically assured that we’d be doing this with the full disapproval of the world…We wish and know all these things. All are important issues. None are the important issue. If Saddam Hussein gets a nuke, we can’t stop him. If he says he has a nuclear weapon in Tel Aviv and an operative with it’s detonator hidden somewhere in Israel, and he is going to take Kuwait, what can we truly do? We can’t sacrifice 2,000,000 of another country’s civilians to stop him. We can’t sacrifice hundreds and thousands of our own soldiers because we don’t want to incinerate Baghdad due to the transgressions of one man. It is of transcendental importance that we keep this nightmare scenario from becoming a reality, and the only way to do that seems to be regime change. Inspectors will be kicked out after a couple of years, the will of the world will turn to other matters. But Saddam, if we leave him in, will still be there, still dreaming of expansion and hegemony, still working on gaining his nuclear weapon. And one day, he will get it. And the next day, we will wake up and be forced to make a horrific choice. We cannot allow that. Bush is incompetent, the Administration is clumsy and their motivations unclear, but if they do go to war, they will assure that Saddam’s nuclear dreams never become reality, and that is a goal very much worth supporting.
Capt. Gibletpants Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 7:30 pm
I also want to grow up to the position where having an opinion is like having a skill an providing opinions for the opnion markets an buying stocks and CDOs on opinions an hedgin my opinions in case the triple A ratings on my opinions isnt all that an Ill shoot the robot monkey with my opinions and when it gets cold on account a space jellyfish encapsulatin the earth in its freeze goo we’ll all huddle with my opinions for warmth even gay huddle on account a my opinion.
Capt. Trollypants Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 7:32 pm
fish, find the mash nates to Chait and the giant locker poster of TNR-era Andrew Sullivan and we’ll all get drunk and reminisce over Twaz during virtual brunch.
Henry Holland Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 8:26 pm
Well, Bob Somerby is going to be even more self-righteous now.

If that’s possible.

As long as it’s done with a low, mordant chuckle, then it’s OK.
Capt. Trollypants Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Tis true, the unforgivable crime is being mean to Atrios, and being constantly right, but in an uncivil manner.
tim Says:
April 24th, 2009 at 12:14 am
Ummm…total sellout. Of course.
me Says:
April 24th, 2009 at 10:15 am
“fish Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 7:15 pm
But the hatchet’s too dull dear Ezra dear Ezra:”
Purity troll finds Ezra not pure enough because he didn’t vote for Nader. And was wrong, but admitted it. At least Republicans don’t admit they’re wrong.
fish Says:
April 24th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
Purity:

Congratulations to Ross Douthat, who will be replacing Bill Kristol at The New York Times. It’s a great choice for many reasons, but what I’ve come to appreciate most in Ross’s writing and look forward to most in his column is his deeply held and well-defended faith. One of the great failings of political commentary is the rarity with which the religious conservative viewpoint is articulated on its own intellectual terms. That is, I imagine, because deeply-held religious beliefs are relatively rare — and even considered somewhat uncouth — among the urban elites who dominate the pundit class. At the end of the day, Bill Kristol was culturally much closer to me than to a churchgoing conservative, and his engagement with that chunk of the GOP — a huge chunk, incidentally — was limited to defending the legitimacy of their political power rather than providing insight into their beliefs. But that insight is important, and Ross, I think, will be able to help provide it.

Ezra and George Packer are certainly going to get their invitations to the Hamptons…
Capt. Puritypants Says:
April 24th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Purity troll missed Ezra hitting a Bush health care plan right in his wheelhouse.

Matt Yglesias

Ezra Klein Hired by Washington Post

47 Responses to “Ezra Klein Hired by Washington Post”

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