Klaus Marre was previously employed at Inside Washington, The Hill and The Daily Caller.
The German-born journalist — some might call him a large German chaperone — now lives in Thailand and has some hard advice for political journalists: Stop whining and do your jobs. Skip the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Take an IRS staffer to lunch.
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Here’s the full text from a weekend Facebook post.
Spoiler alert: You may not like him after reading this.
“I really, really love all of my journalism friends but can you please shut the fuck up about #NotTheEnemy? This isn’t about you. This is about an administration that is trying to remove one of the few barriers that stands between itself and nearly unrestricted power. That is why you (and the judiciary) are being targeted and discredited.
If you want to get the people on your side in this fight, stop whining. Instead, put your heads down and do your jobs! Quit talking about whether you should go to the White House Correspondents Dinner this year. Who gives a fuck? Is it really that important to you to have your picture taken with a Kardashian? How about you spend that time developing some new sources?
And instead of writing about [Donald] Trump’s tweets, why don’t you try to get his tax returns? They are not going to fall into your laps, so go take an IRS staffer out to lunch or sit down and have a very serious conversation with some congressional aides who work for the relevant oversight committees.
Go out there and ask Republicans tough questions. They can’t dodge you (and their constituents) forever. Stop being all buddy-buddy with the people you are supposed to cover. And stop trying to rush out news!!! When covering this White House, it is MUCH more important to be right than to be first.
I know that hasn’t been the trend in news over the past decade but it’s essential now. Be extra diligent before you publish something because every little error will be used as evidence that what you write is “fake news.”
Maybe stay off Twitter for a while. You are all just part of your own big journalism echo chamber. In the end, you’re all saying the same thing – to each other.
There is a reason why the trust in the media is so low. Sure, some of it is a “War on Facts” and the relentless assault from Trump, but another part is that too many national journalists are viewed as smug elitists.
So please stop worrying about your “brand” and your social media platform. This is bigger than all of you. I know your heart is in the right place and a lot of you are doing really good work. But this is not the time to do really good work, this is the time to do your absolute best.
Good luck!”