Dan GillmorDec 30, 2022

The Santos/fraud situation is bad news for journalism on two grounds, but the Washington Post noticed only one of them.

The Post's coverage highlights Big Journalism's utter failure to do its job in a timely way even when a smaller news org had blown the whistle on some of Santos' lies weeks before the election.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2022/12/29/north-shore-leader-santos-scoop/

1/x

(Edited to remove errant apostrophe...)

A tiny paper broke the George Santos scandal but no one paid attention

The North Shore Leader was onto his lies months before he was elected in New York.

The Washington Post
Show threadDan GillmorDec 30, 2022

That was bad enough. But there's another journalistic aspect to this situation that may be even worse.

The small news org that did cover the Santos deceit didn't have enough clout in its own community to make a difference.

There was a time in local journalism when coverage of (and scathing anti-Santos editorial about) the candidate's lies would have been enough to ensure his defeat.

2/x

Show threadGurtbeef RobeDec 31, 2022
@dangillmor you are assuming that republicans actually care about claims of problems with their candidates. This is the party whose leader has 32,000 documented lies along with 25 sexual assault allegations and countless other allegations. Draw all the attention you want. The problem is the party not the paper.
Show threadKarl
@twitterreject @dangillmor stop with those pesky facts, will yea….
Dec 31, 2022 at 3:29pmWeb
Show threadGurtbeef RobeDec 31, 2022
@karl @dangillmor my head nearly exploded at the ridiculous claim he made. I’m not here to bash the guy but it’s like hes been hibernating for the last 22 years and missed everything political that’s happened
Show threadKarlDec 31, 2022
@twitterreject @dangillmor I’m rarely surprised by this type of selective memory these days. #Politics :(