On the day, the Jan. 6 rioters were threatening politicans and sacking the U.S. capitol in Amazon Basics tactical gear. A year on, they're more likely to be posed as heroes by fawning New York Times journalists in front-page celebrations of their "defiance".
The Daily Beast's Roger Sollenberger was sued after exposing one of them, and is none too pleased about the Times' promotional tone.
A year ago, I posted this guy's video on the front lines of the insurrection. He got fired, took the Oath Keepers as legal clients, sued me, lost. Today, the New York Times put his photo on the front page, in a fucking blazer, "still defiant." If you behaved the way this person did, believed the things he does, and reaped the same consequences, for a year straight, but still don't think you've done anything wrong, I've got news for you—that's not "defiant"
For his part, the article's subject says he thought it would be a hit piece and was astonished to find himself on the front page.
"I was in such shock and disbelief I had to get a physical copy of the newspaper to believe it. …I actually like the article," he said, reading some of it on a live stream. "Thank you, New York Times, for giving me free advertising!"
The Times' lip-biting coverage of the far right is nothing new. Here's pundit Nate Silver (who worked with the New York Times himself in the early 2010s), four years ago:
And then there are the classics:
The New York Times knows who's going places and will do what it can to help them become the perfect story.
