I spoke to David Freedlander for his New York Magazine piece on Republicans’ relationship with the mainstream media, and the shifting incentives behind the clean break.
If Republicans sat down with reporters despite anticipating a tough article before, they at least figured it would be better for them than if they ignored the journalist entirely. Now, though, nearly every Republican I talked to said a full-throttle cannon-blasted takedown isn’t just expected but preferred.
“It used to be that you didn’t want to give the media a chance to attack you, but now you see people doing things that are deliberately transgressive just in order to create negative attention — which then allows you to go back to your people and say, ‘Look how the liberal media is attacking me,’” said Liam Donovan, who used to work for the Senate GOP. “A hit piece is worth a heck of a lot more than a positive puff piece.”
Read the full piece here.