Young journos flew close to the sun: Big Republican leaders don’t agree with Obama about the budget because they don’t know what he's proposing!
Only a crackpot would say such a thing. Or an ambitious young journalist?
Why on earth did Ezra Klein write that ridiculous column? We don’t know, and Chait and Krugman aren’t willing to say that he did. But as we pondered this ludicrous work from our latest ambitious young scribe, we checked the ages at which earlier versions of same crashed and burned.
It pretty much started with Janet Cooke, who had to give her Pulitzer back because she’d invented her story. (Along with the resume which got her hired.) But in the past twenty years, we've seen a string of ambitious young journalists break all the rules as they went for the gold.
Does Ezra Klein belong in this class? We don’t have the slightest idea—but can you imagine him going on cable and making the ridiculous claim he made in that long, absurd column?
At any rate, these are the ages at which five other scribes crashed and burned. The potential rewards were great for these young high-fliers. So was their foolish behavior:
The ages at which five famous young journalists crashed and burned:Lehrer turns out to be the greybeard! We may have left one or two out.
Janet Cooke, the Washington Post (26)
Ruth Shalit, the New Republic (24)
Stephen Glass, the New Republic (26)
Jayson Blair, the New York Times (27)
Jonah Lehrer, the New Yorker (31)
How great are the potential rewards if you can get away with these scams? The leading authority on Lehrer’s life offers this intriguing note: “Lehrer owns the historic Shulman House in Los Angeles, California.”
What the heck is the historic Shulman House? The leading authority on the site tells us this:
WIKIPEDIA: The Shulman House is a mid-century steel home and studio in the Hollywood Hills. In 1947 architectural photographer Julius Shulman asked architect Raphael Soriano to build him a house and studio in the Hollywood Hills. By August 1947 the design was decided upon, and construction began in the early months of 1949. The building took nine months to complete and was occupied in March 1950. Garrett Eckbo designed the landscaping. It has remained unaltered and the Shulman House was designated a Historic-Cultural Monument by the City of Los Angeles in 1987.Garrett Eckbo isn’t Gordon Gekko, although the names are close.
The house was sold for $2,250,000 on November 24, 2010 to Jonah Lehrer, who resides there with his wife...
The rewards and the temptations are great for these pseudo-brilliant young strivers. You might think of the Shulman manse as The House Young Ambition Bought.
Our favorite sentence about Janet Cooke: The leading authority on Janet Cooke offers a comical fact. It seems especially relevant in this week of our lords:
“Although some within the Post doubted the story's veracity, the Post defended it and assistant managing editor Bob Woodward submitted the story for the Pulitzer Prize.”
Could it be that it takes a bull-shitter to get taken in by same?
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