re: #18 The Ghost of Senator Incitatus

I’m not feeling clever enough to do it* but there’s an article to be done addressing the press about the fact that access journalism has gone from merely useless and cynical to actively harmful.

I think the Washington Post agrees:
Anyone — citizen or journalist — who is surprised by false claims from the new inhabitant of the Oval Office hasn’t been paying attention. That was reinforced when Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway told “Meet the Press” Sunday that Spicer had been providing “alternative facts” to what the media had reported, making it clear we’ve gone full Orwell.

White House press briefings are “access journalism,” in which official statements — achieved by closeness to the source — are taken at face value and breathlessly reported as news. And that is over. Dead.
washingtonpost.com