At this point, we all know the Dave Weigel saga, which is as a so-called blogger for The Washington Post, he made some disparaging remarks about the people he covered as a conservative beat blogger.
That eventually led to his resignation at the Post and he addressed it on CNN's July 4 "Reliable Sources." Weigel was asked by host Howard Kurtz if in this day and age it was "an uncomfortable fit" for someone to have a lot of opinions and still be a blogger. And according to Weigel, there was despite attacks from what he called "partisan anti-media groups."
"I think there's room for it. I mean, but I think it's going to be the source of a lot of attacks from, you know, partisan anti-media groups who just want to score points against mainstream media organizations," Weigel said. "So, people have to be ready for that. You have to be ready to defend your opinions."
Newsbusters and the Media Research Center have documented Weigel's missteps during his brief stint at the Post and even prior to the leaked Journolist e-mails, so it's not clear if he's referring to us, but it's certainly a possibility. Still as a member of the fourth estate, Weigel doesn't believe he should have to defend his biases, if they're in private.
"I don't think you should have to defend the opinions you have in private, because people are -- every day, you know, people who are in this town are exchanging private opinions," he continued. "They would not broadcast them. They say things at dinner parties with lots of people around that they would not want out. You shouldn't have to say -- you shouldn't have to explain that away. But you should be allowed to say I'm a blogger with these opinions and I'm breaking news, my readers know what they're getting when they read this website. I think that's perfectly defensible just for me in a different publication."
Also: Last month, Media Research Center Vice President Dan Gainor told Politico's Keach Hagey he had contacted conservative groups and asked them to stop cooperating with Weigel.
“We encouraged conservatives not to deal with him,” Gainor said. “We contacted other conservative organizations and said, ‘This guy is no friend of the conservative movement. We recommend that you deny him access.’ Some did."
