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James O’Keefe Target Jay Rosen Seems ‘To Catch A Journalist’ Of His Own: James O’Keefe

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by Tommy Christopher | 1:49 pm, October 28th, 2011

» 25 comments

On Thursday, conservative undercover journalist James O’Keefe released the second installment of his “To Catch A Journalist” series, a takeoff on Dateline NBC’s “To Catch a Predator” sting aimed at discrediting mainstream journalists. His first swing, at Sam Stein, missed badly, and his second attempt, aimed at NYU Prof. Jay Rosen and Clay Shirky, brings the count to 2 and 0. Prof. Rosen, however, responded to O’Keefe’s attack with some revealing information about O’Keefe’s “investigation.”

The second ”To Catch A Journalist” video, released yesterday, features hidden-cam clips of a classroom discussion by NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen and new media expert Clay Shirky, and although it contains lots of buzzy right-wing watchwords (like “The New York Times,” or “elites”), even out of context, the cumulative effect is of a fairly ordinary classroom discussion. It’s like an upskirt photo of someone in snowpants:

The video is so baffling, I emailed O’Keefe yesterday to find out what he thought he had “caught” Rosen and Shirky doing. He didn’t respond to that question, but from the video, it appears that he thinks the “We are the 1%” bite is the money quote. (I also pointed out that he had published Prof. Rosen’s phone number in the video, and it’s still there today. Nice.) Rosen explains the easy-to-infer context of that quote:

When Shirky says “we are the most elite…” and I follow it up with “we’re the one percent!” the discussion was about news consumption: journalism professors and students are at the extreme end in attention to news and willingness to pay for it. But you can feel O’Keefe salivating over those words as he splices them in. The implication he wants: we are your overlords!

In his response last night, Professor Rosen echoed that criticism, saying “there’s not much to say because it’s so incoherent, context-less and, frankly, boring. As Erik Wemple of the Washington Post put it: ‘Just a couple of professors prattling on in not-so-fascinating ways about media and politics.’”

What Rosen does reveal, though, is that when O’Keefe called him to get comments on some quotes from the class, Rosen was able to discern who taped the class: a prospective student, pseudonymously dubbed “Lucas,” who was a guest in the class that day. As always, it turns out the devil is in the details that didn’t make it into O’Keefe’s video:

“Lucas” had taped us, surreptitiously. Then he asked to meet with me. I didn’t know it at the time, but this was part of the sting. He said he wanted to become a political journalist: did I have any advice? I gave him several career paths he could follow. He asked me if being a politics major and a journalism minor would be a handicap. I said no. Then he let me in on something.

He said he had a tape of a Tea Party gathering in which some ugly and extreme (the implication was racist) things were said. He said it was gruesome stuff. He wanted to know how he could get it to the media. To the New York Times. I said the New York Times wouldn’t be interested in something like that, and that he might try to contact Max Blumenthal of the Nation. He asked if I had any other advice for him. I said find a niche and start a blog. I gave him the examples of Ezra Klein, Dave Weigel and Nate Silver to show him that it was possible. I was trying to inspire him! “Lucas” thanked me and left. He had a strange smile on his face.

It’s understandable that O’Keefe would want to justify the $80 he spent on a hidden cam, and the time invested by his operative, but not only is this product embarrassing, it also manages to undercut O’Keefe’s credibility even more than it already has been. In the second part of our interview, O’Keefe defended a similar omission, but this is magnitudes more egregious. The pity is, he probably would have gotten more play if he had made “Lib Journo Prof Does The Honest Thing” his lede.

I asked O’Keefe if he planned on releasing the footage of Prof. Rosen’s meeting with the Project Veritas operative, and why he hadn’t done so. His response was mystifying:

Please follow up with Jay Rosen about the contested info regarding Clay Shirky and The New York Times. Jay Rosen, my trusted source, didn’t comment there.

I would talk to Professor Jay Rosen, my trusted source, to make sure he’s comfortable with the New York Times’s characterization of Shirky’s relationship with the NYT.

Not to get into the weeds, but in the video, O’Keefe identifies Shirky as someone who “has done consulting work for The New York Times,” which Shirky and the paper dispute. I responded, “Okay, but what about what I asked you? Are you going to release that footage?”

As yet, O’Keefe hasn’t responded.

Clay Shirky, Erik Wemple, James O'Keefe, Jay Rosen, NYU, Sam Stein, To Catch A Journalist

http://chrisgworld.blogspot.com/ Chris

when it comes to James O’Keefe I will not trust anything that comes from him
Find Help

Its been James O’Keefe week for Tommy and boring articles for the rest of us. I see this headline and think really another story with this. It might be funny if it wasn’t so sad.
http://twitter.com/themercenary Amy Frame

Maybe it is time for this young man to just go and get a job. Whomever, is continuing to encourage him is doing him a huge disservice. I actually feel a bit sorry for the kid.
Rufus Danegro

Fact: Okeefe is a smarmy little rat faced punk who clearly can’t be trusted not to lie everytime he opens his filthy mouth.
Anonymous

You’re not alone, anyone with more than half a brain cell knows O’Keefe is full of shit but be aware the half a brain cell requirement disqualifies teabaggers and most of the right-wing nutjobs that frequent these boards.
Anonymous

i am not a fan of okeefe’s style, but come on tommy, what he omits, you do the samething. as many articles you devote to okeefe he must scare you it seems
http://www.facebook.com/people/Dronetek-Bulk-Vanderhuge/100000918732763 Dronetek Bulk Vanderhuge

“His first swing, at Sam Stein, missed badly, and his second attempt, aimed at NYU Prof. Jay Rosen and Clay Shirky, brings the count to 2 and 0.”

Says a guy who’s known for running cover for Democrats and constantly attacking their critics. I think people should decide from themselves, instead of taking the word of a political operative.

Tommy, can you explain why you don’t apply the standards you set for O’Keeffe to yourself or anyone else in the media (minus Fox)? Is it because you’re a partisan political activist who wants to see Democrats and Obama stay in power?
Anonymous

Elite professors pontificating on being elite professors. I was going to say other than the fact they’re pompous snobs what’s news? …. but that’s not even news. What a mental circle-jerk. lol
Anonymous

No, cjdohio1. Okeefe is not what frightens Tommy. It is the the fact that there are enough mental midgets out there who will believe him and the smarmy political hit-men who promote him.
Anonymous

I dont seem to understand this. If James O’Keefe is bad for journalism, fails at properly sourcing and providing context, and then digs in to fight any liberal rebuttals, why do journalists keep covering him?

What has James O’Keefe reported that has been true, not edited to suit his partisan ideology? He’s done nothing but misrepresent himself and his “citizen journalists” to get into places where there is no story, yet here we are with another full week of interviews, emails, and transcripts of someone proven, time and again, to be a liar and does not report facts, just his beliefs.

I like when folks cover all the bases in a story, but the story here is the media is still infatuated with O’Keefe for no good reasons.

/sad
Anonymous

Breaking News: NYU professors are elite, since, you know it’s one of the top schools in the country. They used the world elite, yes, because they are. Its imbeciles like you who listen to Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, who broadcast from platinum covered towers, with hundreds of millions in the bank, and think they are ANYTHING but the elite.
Anonymous

You missed the point, kitty. Most people get their news from one source. Journalism requires multiple sourcing and presentation of facts. It should terrify you that 95% of the electorate is informed by biased, incomplete or false information. These “pompous snobs” are better informed than general population and therefore have a much better chance for an informed analysis.
Anonymous

I am sick and tired of James O’keefe. Why is this self-promoting charlatan and serial liar still showing up in commentary?
Anonymous

tommy omits stuff also, okeefe is just rude in his style
http://www.facebook.com/people/Dave-Be/1751243136 Dave Be

Right, the “elite” and “1%” comments in the video were referring to their status as news consumers, not their economic or political status. A coworker of mine is easily in the top 1% of Marvel vs Capcom players in the country, and competes on a national level. Being an “elite” MvC player doesn’t make him part of the hidden ruling class or whatever the implication is supposed to be.
Frod

Jay Rosen is completely non-partisan and a brilliant man. He’s probably the best media critc out there. This story is farcical and beyond contempt. STOP COVERING JAMES O’KEEFE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD
http://twitter.com/rdbrewer4 RD Brewer

Tommy Christopher comes out against O’Keefe on this story? What a surpise!
Anonymous

Is there anyone not in jail creepier than James O’Keefe?
Anonymous

I don’t assume I’m an idiot easily led. Why should I assume that for anyone else? Anyone who gets their news from one source deserves what they get. One sided news.
Anonymous

lol
Rparshooter

I don’t know who the bigger jackass is…O’Keefe or Christopher..no..no..it’s O’Keefe..why give this ass a forum?..but seriously..who actually thinks of this jackass as a journalist other than himself and, of course, Fox
Grendelprime

Hey, now! You can’t compare Tommy and O’Keefe. Tommy is such a good journalist that all of his columns come under the “columnist” heading. On his twitter he describes himself as the White House reporter for Mediaite, but when’s the last time you saw his White House stories without the “columnist” tag,huh? He’s just that good.

It’s definitely not that he can’t keep his personal politics out of his stories, it’s that his opinions are so damn valuable it would be a sin to deprive the readers of them. He doesn’t even make mistakes. When he says “… “Dateline NBC’s “To Catch a Predator” sting aimed at discrediting mainstream journalists.” he just wants us to know that Dateline NBC has actually run a sting to discredit mainstream journalists. Betty and Veronica? He had that all tapped out from the beginning, his foul mouthed tweets were just to throw others off the scent.

Sure, he may come off as a pretentious nitwit sometimes, but that’s just his Clark Kent disguise; for truly he is a Superman amongst fair and accurate journalists.

I’ll not have you say a word against him. Good day, sir.

I said, Good Day!
Anonymous

Thank you Tommy for (yet again) exposing OKeefe as the grotesque charlatan that he is.

Actually, I guess one didnt have to do much, since OKeefe is such a dimwit, he’s pretty much outed himself.O’keefe only appeals to the most unbalanced and disturbed minds. Its a real shame that congress ever acted on the machinations of such a bogus liar.

And congress should be made accountable for shaping public policy according to the lies of a moron like O’Keefe.
Eleanorntheo

Very well said, Milord!

Its truly bizarre that people actually try to convince themselves that O’keefe has any honest substance to him, or that he somehow is no different from real reporters (but hey, it only highlights the fact that the modern right is the direct descendants of the clinically brainwashed Moonies… eg, the Washington Times was founded by Moon as a way of mainstreaming his agenda.)

Like Karl Rove and Michele Bachmann, the creep is a signal of how low the right has sunk.
Eleanorntheo

Cj, are you serious?

Tommy never tried to abduct and sexually humiliate an innocent woman on film, just for political copy (and thank you Izzy Santa for having some moral decency.) Tommy has never put up a video on youtube that falsely accuses innocent people of the serious crime of Child Trafficking, making a totally mockery of that tragedy while streaming very unconvincing, cut up and distorted footage to make the case. Tommy has never pissed all over the 7th Amendment, the way o’Keefe and his online lynch mob has. Thankfully, Juan Carlos Vera is fighting back, and outing that O’Keefe for the dishonest charlatan that he is. BUt never mind that James framed innocent, hard working people with hideous lies that have all proven false. Never mind that he forced congressional policy on basis of those lies (kind of like Rove did in Iraq, without the body count.)Look at what he is doing to you, his fans. Outside of making you truncate your own intelligence (indeed, even your own senses, and your understanding of what is right, or wrong) for the sake of his grotesque online witch trial, he has flat out ripped you folks off. Remember the 50,000 smackers he needed to supposedly get himself “out of credit card debt?” remember how he went begging to his fans for that money? He claimed the NPR sting set him back $50,000. A Youtube video, for $50,000. I mean, honestly, better full length features have been produced for much less. Asking 50,000 for a youtube video (even with its disguises, plane tickets, etc…) is in NO WAY a reflection of fiscal frugality… in fact, its just stupid and negligent… anyone who has worked within a budget will tell you the same. And you people fell for it. Tommy never asked anyone for $50,000 to get him “out of debt.” You sad people dont realize that Okeefe is making as much a fool of you as he does his victims.