Journalists Roast Eric Trump EXPOSING WaPo Reporter for… Standard Reporting Practice
Journalists on Twitter roundly mocked Eric Trump for posting a polite source letter from The Washington Post’s David Fahrenthold and trying to make it out as nefarious.
Eric Trump posted the letter from Fahrenthold to a Trump Organization employee to Twitter, angrily tagging Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos and questioning the “tactics” of Fahrenthold.
These are the tactics used by the @WashingtonPost. @JeffBezos – you should be very proud… ? pic.twitter.com/9RO91n7XGX
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) September 6, 2019
The move was roundly mocked by journalists on Twitter, many pointing out the letter is a good template for reaching out to potential sources for stories. Many also noted it appears that Eric Trump doesn’t understand how journalism works.
You really nailed him here Eric…. A reporter asking for information! https://t.co/kmmSUameDc
— Sam Stein (@samstein) September 6, 2019
Lol is this supposed to make Fahrenthold look bad? He looks like a total pro here https://t.co/nsOOGAqvxe
— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) September 6, 2019
quite nice of Eric Trump to show young journalists everywhere a model template for reaching out to sources https://t.co/VguBQ4Spkq
— Steadman™ (@AsteadWesley) September 6, 2019
There are many critiques of reporting, some good and some bad, and then there’s just….not understanding what reporting is? https://t.co/BTdfr58JrX
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) September 6, 2019
YOU THINK THAT’S BAD?!?
I HEARD HE HAS INVITED POTENTIAL SOURCES TO LUNCH!!!! https://t.co/YpANHi9uhA
— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) September 6, 2019
This email sent by @Fahrenthold to a potential source is not only perfectly appropriate for a reporter to send, David goes above and beyond in how transparent and professional he is. https://t.co/yPhcFyAizR
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) September 6, 2019
Fabulous template for ethical source-building. Thanks for sharing, Eric. https://t.co/l2aOMlLfik
— ErikWemple (@ErikWemple) September 6, 2019
This incredibly polite email from a reporter doing his job is a filthy dirty tactic!!11111 https://t.co/cETxvk3TQ1
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) September 6, 2019
lol yes he literally should be https://t.co/eNWXejkSHn
— AJ (@ajchavar) September 6, 2019
Shit, most of my cold emails are: “Hey, I’m me. I’m doing a story about this. Can you call me? Thanks.” https://t.co/oLAHtrhAMK
— Mike Davis (@byMikeDavis) September 6, 2019
does… he not know what reporters do for a living? https://t.co/DK7OKh3Znm
— dell cameron (@dellcam) September 6, 2019
A+ tactics, tbh. https://t.co/AHptYQFDP1
— Reveal (@reveal) September 6, 2019
No one is perfect, but this email is darn close. https://t.co/0iDWIAS0My
— David Martosko (@dmartosko) September 6, 2019
Young reporters should take note of Fahrentold’s good source-building strategies and clear language, which Eric was kind of enough to share here. https://t.co/TFZJL1zmP0
— CJ Ciaramella (@cjciaramella) September 6, 2019
An Eric Trump self-own doesn’t exactly merit comment these days but this is actually an inadvertent public service for aspiring investigative journos: there’s nobody better than @Fahrenthold and this kind of wide-net, low-yield fishing is how some of the best reporting gets done. https://t.co/GHujxCIgl7
— Patrick Radden Keefe (@praddenkeefe) September 6, 2019
Normally I wouldn’t re-tweet a Trump but he just provided his 2.6 million followers instructions on how to leak things to the Washington Post and that greatly amuses me. https://t.co/JaY9ZzjwPP
— Matthew Keys (@MatthewKeysLive) September 6, 2019
[Image via screengrab]
