One of the bravest, most trail-blazing journalists alive today is undoubtedly Marlow Stern, a Senior Editor at the Daily Beast. Because his staggering contributions to the field have so far yet to be fully recognized and appreciated, this Substack post aims to remedy that injustice. Marlow also loves offering up his own
To all those criticizing MT for picking an individual to profile whose pathetic excuse for “journalism” is a case study that illustrates a larger point, note this is exactly the kind of thing NPR/NYT/WAPO/CNN do every day. They develop a narrative that makes them feel virtuous, hunt for an individual whose story can be shown to demonstrate the narrative in real life, as though it serves as proof of their worldview, and expect us to believe this is “Evidence”. The test, for me, is whether generalizing from the case to the wider world is rational and from a scientific point of view, reproducible across larger data sets in similar settings.
MT has made the case already that this person is not an isolated case, but rather a common phenotype in modern “journalism”. So he passes that bar IMHO, with much greater credibility than the MSM entities who are on a mission to change the world.
Stern spends his days pouring gasoline on the divisive bonfires consuming the culture, getting the transgressive thrill that comes from the same place that drives vandalism and pyromania. He chooses to do so in public, and evinces no cognitive dissonance that would reveal any self-awareness of his vacuity. So no pity is due this cretinous parasite. Live by the sword....
What I do think would be useful, and responsive to some of the criticism, is further exploration of the ecosystem that drives and rewards such people. Stern has supervising editors somewhere at the Daily Beast; who are they and why do they hire and promote such weak thinkers? How do advertisers square their inexplicable desire to appear as sponsors of this trash with their corporate image? How does it make their employees or customers feel that they are spending shareholder assets funding this useless tripe?
Going back to his training, how do the overpaid hacks at Columbia where he was indoctrinated with this perspective justify their existence? How do the “thought leaders” in the field, like Jay Rosen at NYU (PressThink) understand their role in creating a US version of Pravda? Let’s follow the breadcrumbs from Stern, whose career has become a public embarrassment, to those up the food chain who trained and motivated him to be such a waste of space. I think it is time to “punch up”, to use the frame of the critics here.
It's truly disgusting that "journalism" has come to this. Keep calling them out, Michael. They're destroying/have destroyed a once (semi) noble profession.
Frankly this seems mean. The guy is by your own admission a hugely underachieving irrelevance, who has used his immense wealth, privilege and connections to end up doing... well, nothing much. It hardly seems to merit an article.
5000 people who have spent the last five years accusing you of being a neo-Nazi and/or a Russian spy and/or a sexual predator—while relentlessly baiting you with ugly remarks about your appearance—will now wonder aloud: “doesn’t Michael Tracey have better things to write about?”
This dude is definitely obnoxious. But this does seem a bit meaner than necessary. Maybe you could inform your dear readers as to what exactly Marlow did to merit this level of vitriol? Otherwise, this seems a bit like screaming and hollering at snobby store clerk for being snotty toward you. Use your Jersey to take down bigger targets instead. Love your work!
This kind of fish-in-a-barrel piece isn’t worth your time or your readers. Whatever Mr. Stern has otherwise done to enrage you to the point you thought this screed was worth writing, you should have enjoyed the catharsis of creating it, then put in your “not for publication” folder and moved on to do something that you and your readership could have learned from.
Love your snarky tone. At first I thought you were serious about his talents. But now I see he is a spoiled child with no ambition but to get paid each week and promote the progressive left wing BS. I never heard of him and wouldn’t read the daily beast if you paid me. Don’t think I have ever read it.
Coddled privilege really is something. Profiles in journalistic courage would be a welcome addition to your substack. I would like to nominate Jim Acosta for your next piece.
I like you Tracey, and clearly Marlow was way out of his depth questioning Greenwalds journalistic credentials.
But this is so brutal that I feel sorry for Marlow. Literally, the emotion I have right now is pity. This guy spent a ton of money, and is maybe still paying off his student loans, to write fluff articles on the daily beast, of all publications.
It's very true that this guy is basically a nothing, but that also means you are punching down, and punching down HARD
To all those criticizing MT for picking an individual to profile whose pathetic excuse for “journalism” is a case study that illustrates a larger point, note this is exactly the kind of thing NPR/NYT/WAPO/CNN do every day. They develop a narrative that makes them feel virtuous, hunt for an individual whose story can be shown to demonstrate the narrative in real life, as though it serves as proof of their worldview, and expect us to believe this is “Evidence”. The test, for me, is whether generalizing from the case to the wider world is rational and from a scientific point of view, reproducible across larger data sets in similar settings.
MT has made the case already that this person is not an isolated case, but rather a common phenotype in modern “journalism”. So he passes that bar IMHO, with much greater credibility than the MSM entities who are on a mission to change the world.
Stern spends his days pouring gasoline on the divisive bonfires consuming the culture, getting the transgressive thrill that comes from the same place that drives vandalism and pyromania. He chooses to do so in public, and evinces no cognitive dissonance that would reveal any self-awareness of his vacuity. So no pity is due this cretinous parasite. Live by the sword....
What I do think would be useful, and responsive to some of the criticism, is further exploration of the ecosystem that drives and rewards such people. Stern has supervising editors somewhere at the Daily Beast; who are they and why do they hire and promote such weak thinkers? How do advertisers square their inexplicable desire to appear as sponsors of this trash with their corporate image? How does it make their employees or customers feel that they are spending shareholder assets funding this useless tripe?
Going back to his training, how do the overpaid hacks at Columbia where he was indoctrinated with this perspective justify their existence? How do the “thought leaders” in the field, like Jay Rosen at NYU (PressThink) understand their role in creating a US version of Pravda? Let’s follow the breadcrumbs from Stern, whose career has become a public embarrassment, to those up the food chain who trained and motivated him to be such a waste of space. I think it is time to “punch up”, to use the frame of the critics here.
It's truly disgusting that "journalism" has come to this. Keep calling them out, Michael. They're destroying/have destroyed a once (semi) noble profession.
The guy works for an outfit where holding up powerless private citizens for public ridicule is part of the business model. No sympathy
Frankly this seems mean. The guy is by your own admission a hugely underachieving irrelevance, who has used his immense wealth, privilege and connections to end up doing... well, nothing much. It hardly seems to merit an article.
Maybe a little too subtle for Marlow, but I enjoyed it.
5000 people who have spent the last five years accusing you of being a neo-Nazi and/or a Russian spy and/or a sexual predator—while relentlessly baiting you with ugly remarks about your appearance—will now wonder aloud: “doesn’t Michael Tracey have better things to write about?”
Sarcasm, the latest tool by a Substack Journalist to inflict pain and suffering on innocent "writers" & "Senior Editors". Love it!
Beautifully brutal....esp the part about the guys Mom getting him into Columbia.
subscribed
This dude is definitely obnoxious. But this does seem a bit meaner than necessary. Maybe you could inform your dear readers as to what exactly Marlow did to merit this level of vitriol? Otherwise, this seems a bit like screaming and hollering at snobby store clerk for being snotty toward you. Use your Jersey to take down bigger targets instead. Love your work!
This kind of fish-in-a-barrel piece isn’t worth your time or your readers. Whatever Mr. Stern has otherwise done to enrage you to the point you thought this screed was worth writing, you should have enjoyed the catharsis of creating it, then put in your “not for publication” folder and moved on to do something that you and your readership could have learned from.
I now understand why duels were popular.
Love your snarky tone. At first I thought you were serious about his talents. But now I see he is a spoiled child with no ambition but to get paid each week and promote the progressive left wing BS. I never heard of him and wouldn’t read the daily beast if you paid me. Don’t think I have ever read it.
Those of you criticizing MT for "punching down" appear to be missing the point. Keep punching, Michael. Please.
Coddled privilege really is something. Profiles in journalistic courage would be a welcome addition to your substack. I would like to nominate Jim Acosta for your next piece.
I like you Tracey, and clearly Marlow was way out of his depth questioning Greenwalds journalistic credentials.
But this is so brutal that I feel sorry for Marlow. Literally, the emotion I have right now is pity. This guy spent a ton of money, and is maybe still paying off his student loans, to write fluff articles on the daily beast, of all publications.
It's very true that this guy is basically a nothing, but that also means you are punching down, and punching down HARD