The average person cares as much about media inside baseball as about the mating habits of deep sea fish. But this kind of thing is a good reminder that the media is not a bunch of idealistic journalists dedicated to public service, but it’s also not a bunch of amorphous ideological fanatics, but rather petty self-interested organizations playing out their own rivalries.
CNN was one of the first to call foul on BuzzFeed’s fake Michael Cohen news. But that had less to do with journalism than CNN’s hatred for BuzzFeed.
Since then CNN has the most aggressive org going after BuzzFeed for the fake story and demanding consequences. But that’s not all. CNN has run multiple pieces bashing BuzzFeed on a variety of topics.
Why do the two fake news orgs hate each other so much?
CNN did poach some critical BuzzFeed people with disastrous results. And its boss made it clear that he resents BuzzFeed even while wanting to be it. BuzzFeed has complained that CNN isn’t giving it credit. And CNN has repeatedly attacked BuzzFeed for being sloppy.
Does anyone of this matter?
It helps understand where certain kinds of news stories come from while reminding of just how self-interested the media is.
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