The Breitbart Standard

Conor Friedersdorf makes the obvious point:

As a proprietor of Big Government and Big Hollywood, part of the team that runs The Drudge Report, and a regular guest on Fox News, especially Sean Hannity’s show, [Andrew Breitbart] is a leader among folks who complain that the Times is a pernicious force in American lifethat it ignores stories that cut against its ideological bent, too often makes mistakes in its reporting, and gives insufficient consideration to ideological insights other than those held by its staff. This is somewhat odd given that Mr. Breitbart’s media empire, and the outlets with which he most closely associates himself, are thoroughly ideological enterprises, publish few if any ideologically heterodox pieces, seldom if ever correct factual mistakes, and ignore liberal insights entirely.

These are outlets that scoff at claims that the Times attempts objective journalism, but that never question the “fair and balanced” claim made by Fox News, or acknowledge that they deliberately ignore certain stories. Its critics cite columns written by the Times’ “public editor” as evidence that the newspaper is unaccountable to the American peopleyet they’d never dream of allowing semi-autonomous ombudsmen to operate on their own sites. Imagine Fox News, Big Government, or the Drudge Report hiring an honest guy like Jack Shafer to write a prominently displayed column calling them on their bullshit.