Why Are Mainstream Journalists Pretending Not to Understand How Press Contacts Work?

Peter Baker's smarmy tweet takes the cake

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Hey all. Parker here.

Another weekend, another “kids these days” controversy involving journalists and campus protesters. This time, as has (somewhat weirdly) frequently been the case, the topic is press contacts, spokespeople, and the debate over whether the existence of them suggests inauthenticity within the movement being covered.

“When protests are not about actually explaining your cause or trying to engage journalists who are there to listen,” tweeted Peter Baker of the New York Times. “[Peggy Noonan] describes her visit to Columbia before the raid.”

As you can see in the paragraph supplied by Baker, Noonan, a conservative opinion columnist for the Wall Street Journal, was trying to flag down random protesters for their views. Those demonstrators demured, directing Noonan to speak with their designated spokespeople, the existence of which has become scandalous in the eyes of the Bakers and Noonans of the world.