The Great Bari Weiss Swindle

AKA pundit self-promotion masterclass.

Jul 17, 2020

When New York Times op-ed columnist Bari Weiss very publicly resigned from her job this week—in the latest installment of the ongoing Times op-ed section public drama—one thing was apparent:

Bari Weiss is amazingly good at self-promotion.

Now let’s take a step back. The New York Times is constantly engaged in a three-way frenemy fight with the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post for the most discussed op-ed pages in US media. The Wall Street Journal‘s op-ed section spans the spectrum fron center-right to far-right with a token liberal here and there. The Washington Post has been historically centrist but has veered slightly left thanks to the born again anti-Trumpism of writers like Max Boot and Jennifer Rubin. By contrast, the Times op-ed section has traditionally been less focused on ideology and more focused on featuring columnists who are culturally acceptable (read: upper-middle class, private university educated) to their readership in places like Park Slope, northwest DC and westside LA.

Weiss, as a writer, was poached by the Times from the Wall Street Journal as part of a post-2016 expansion of the op-ed columnist roster that also included fellow WSJer Bret Stephens (who has also caused massive PR headaches for his current employer). For her part, Weiss called herself a “left-leaning centrist” on a recentish Joe Rogan appearance, but I’d argue she’s more center-right… that is to say, to the left of Ben Shapiro but to the right of about 2/3rds of the NYT op-ed roster. She published the 2019 book How to Fight Anti-Semitism and has a new book coming out this year; however, her primary skill is a preternatural talent for writing op-eds people argue about on Twitter. That’s a very, very valuable job skill.

Predictably, Weiss’ resignation became a salvo in the ongoing right wing-left wing culture war:

Franklin Graham @Franklin_Graham

The resignation this week of @bariweiss at @nytimes, confirms what many people already have known—The New York Times is biased to the left, socialist, radical agenda of the Democratic party.

foxnews.comBari Weiss’ resignation letter proves New York Times engaging in ‘outright censorship,’ critic saysNew York Times opinion columnist and editor Bari Weiss announced Tuesday she is leaving the paper with a blistering resignation letter that some feel proves the Gray Lady is censoring diversity of thought.

Sean Davis @seanmdav

After Bari Weiss Ouster, ZOA Unveils Hotline For Jewish Employees At The New York Times To Report Workplace Threats, Harassment

thefederalist.comAfter Bari Weiss Ouster, ZOA Unveils Hotline For Jewish Employees At The New York Times To Report Workplace Threats, HarassmentZOA condemned the, “antisemitic work environment now on full and public display at The New York Times,” while offering a hotline for other journalists facing discrimination.

Both Franklin Graham and the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) are both on the right wing of the spectrum. While the idea of a hotline for Jewish employees at the Times might be comical, the intent behind the publicity stunt isn’t. Performative culture war is very real.

In 2020 America, it’s crucial for both the right wing and the left wing to portray themselves as being persecuted. Portraying yourself as a persecuted outsider even if that isn’t the case—and yes, intellectual dark web, I’m talking about you—is an easy way to sell books, get TV appearances and make money in general.

Bari Weiss resigned from the Times in the middle of a global financial crisis in a very public way; by contrast, writers quietly come and go from the NYT op-ed section all the damn time. She has a new book coming out and has been consistently talented at generating social media hateclicks for her employers. Something tells me Weiss will be just fine.

But one thing’s for sure: Weiss just taught a masterclass in self-promotion.

And send money to Feeding America, who are doing great work making sure food banks are fully stocked during the pandemic.

The Big Picture

Historian Patrick Wyman wrote an extremely smart article about the politics behind not wanting to wear a mask, and a “genuinely American understanding of freedom, one that’s intimately bound up with a whole bunch of aspects of socioeconomic status, occupational dignity, and race in America.”
Speaking of masks, we’re seeing large retail chains begin to step in to enforce mask wearing during the pandemic when government isn’t. It turns out retailers like making money and don’t want their not-always-well-ventilated stores to turn into plague pits! That’s why Walmart and Kroger are now requiring customers to wear masks.

Marketing/Advertising/PR

Residents of the Bulambuli region of Uganda put together an absolutely amazing music video to promote their JustGiving campaign for investment in the local economy. Send them some $$!!
Following up on our recent article about Gulf countries creating fake journalists to plant op-eds in right wing publications, here’s a crazy story about unknown pro-Israel advocates creating elaborate fake digital personas to publish stories in Israeli and diaspora Jewish publications.
Hulu is rolling out a new self-service ad manager tool for smaller businesses to more easily buy Hulu ads. Now let’s be clear… the smaller businesses using this tool are still pretty damn big, but it’s still a significant move by Hulu—means they see sustainable revenue from advertisers who may not have traditional media planning budgets.
This basically sounds like QVC/HSN for the social media age: Amazon Influencer Program unveils livestreaming, with influencers paid commission for every product a viewer buys while watching the livestream. View the new age of shopping online at Amazon Live.

Media

Desperate pet owners are turning to Facebook Marketplace to secretly buy medicine for their cats which haven’t been approved in the United States yet.
(Image: Instagram)
Facebook’s Instagram has completely overhauled their in-app shopping experience.
Netflix’s internal Game of Thrones (Their House of Cards?) continues with Ted Sarandos named co-CEO.
Jeff Goldblum talks about how Jurassic World is filming during COVID and how you make movies during a pandemic in general.
Apple is now creating their own news podcast. Which is great, except there are already competing products from the New York Times, NPR, CNN, The Economist… So many…

Tech

Zoom is partnering with electronics brand DTEN on a home videoconferencing rig, Zoom For Home. The $599 device has three cameras, whiteboarding/touchscreen capabilities and eight microphones.
After Google Glass was too early for its time, Richard Nieva at CNet looks at Google’s ongoing wearables experiments with holographic glasses and smart tattoos.
It looks like Microsoft might be quietly discontinuing Notepad and Paint? Say it ain’t so.

Fun

A pub in rural Cornwall installed an electric fence so drunk patrons wouldn’t violate COVID rules. Landlord Jonny McFadden explained to Reuters “There’s the fear factor—it works […] People are like sheep. Sheep keep away, people keep away.” Indeed.

And, Finally, a Programming Note:

We’re kicking off summer break for the newsletter. Since March, I’ve been juggling full-time childcare and full-time work. That gets tiring. It’s July right now, the weather’s beautiful and it’s the ideal season to spend less time in front of a computer.

I’ll be back with new issues of the newsletter in August. Can’t wait to see you there.

A genuine thank you for spending time with this newsletter. Likes? Dislikes? Suggestions for future issues? Write me at neal@nealungerleider.com + if you could share this newsletter with folks, that would be amazing.