Conversation

Shadi Hamid
@shadihamid
1. I'm genuinely wondering what the journalistic standards are for Trump palace intrigue stories As a non-journalist who interviews political figures, I'd never think to directly quote someone saying something if I hadn't heard it firsthand
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Shadi Hamid
@shadihamid
Replying to
@shadihamid
3. The people I interview (Islamists, mostly) don't lie nearly as much as Trump administration officials, but I wouldn't trust them—or really *anyone*—to accurately "remember" the exact words of what someone said in a private meeting
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Shadi Hamid
@shadihamid
4. I remember when I used to interview Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood figures and some hated each other and would talk shit about each other, so the idea that I'd directly quote a member of one faction secondhand based on what a member of the other faction told me would be nuts
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Shadi Hamid
@shadihamid
5. Again, I'm not a journalist, but if someone told me something so self-evidently absurd (i.e. Trump not knowing who Boehner is) I'd use basic judgment and not include it in any published material, or I'd say "Bannon joked that Trump didn't even know who Boehner was"
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Shadi Hamid
@shadihamid
6. I mean come on, seriously. The Wolff excerpt, and a lot of what
@gabrielsherman
writes, are silly, fun, and have (some) glimmers of insight, but they can't really be considered "journalism," can they? It undermines faith in the media and contributes to "fake news" narratives
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Shadi Hamid
@shadihamid
Sorry, one more thing, some folks are responding to this thread and asking me why I'm "defending" Trump. If this is considered defending Trump, then I'm at a loss. If something correct happens to portray Trump in a slightly less horrible light, that doesn't make it less correct
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Richard Jones
@RBartleby
Replying to
@shadihamid
There is a slight possibility that conversation in which Trump is alleged to have said “Who’s that” about Boehner was taped. But if not, certainly should have been attributed to someone’s claim. And even if said, more likely sarcasm by Trump.
Lone Koefoed Hansen
@koefoed
Replying to
@shadihamid
This is important and yet I would imagine that it comes from the career of journalism and press secretary work: press secretaries are journos but in press statements they also write what someone can be quoted for saying. So if he’s used to inventing quotes in writing? >
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Lone Koefoed Hansen
@koefoed
Replying to
@koefoed
and
@shadihamid
>I’m not saying that Wolff uses good quoting practice but I see this practice every day and I imagine that you can get so used to it that you think that a text doesn’t work without direct speech? (And for sure, academic practice is different)