Mike Pesca's firing shows how fear killed journalistic principles
He was forced out for supporting a journalist, revealing backward thinking in newsrooms.
We’re both NPR alums with stories to tell about how the media lost its way. In the new episode of They Stand Corrected, Mike Pesca joins me. He hosts The Gist, which he says is the longest-running daily news podcast.
First, we discuss another big way the media applied a double standard to Mamdani, boosting him toward victory. Then, the big picture: Why do so many mainstream news organizations scream about the very real dangers to democracy from the right while running cover for the equally real dangers to democracy from the left?
Mike’s own story illustrates the historic, epic failure that has taken hold of legacy media. He was effectively fired from Slate (“My continued employment proved to be impossible there”) for daring to support a journalist and discussing a journalistic principle in an internal company message system.
We talk about the culture of fear in newsrooms. (“Maybe that was the goal of many people all along,” he says.) And I share my belief in the presumption of best intentions.
“You wouldn’t have that presumption if what you’re going for is not an open society that is based on the free exchange of ideas,” but instead “to expunge thinkers or… express power in the moment,” Mike says.
If the news media can’t even allow an internal discussion about news operations without forcing a top journalist out, how can it be trusted to provide the public with facts and context needed to understand the world?
Hear the story, and why it matters to everyone who wants the news to do its job: getting you the truth.
Everyone can hear the podcast for free. Paid subscribers get cleaned up, hyperlinked, searchable transcripts.
Transcript
Josh: There was a guy at the New York Times,
