It Is 2006... It is 2026...

It is we not us and them. They are on Team White House, and they rise and fall together.They are quite defensive of the people they cover, both because of access reasons and in the same way that I can criticize Philadelphia but you had better fucking not. Their home, not yours.They tend to be incredibly thin skinned about their own work, of course.As journalists at the top of the food chain - salaries, status, fame - they are often quite dismissive of lesser journalists. You know, the ones with actual scoops which they are often unable to read or remember.Access journalism includes a lot of save it for the book stuff. Aside from the obvious, a problem with failing to publish what you know is that you end up talking and writing around it. Peter Hegseth says [lie which is refuted in my book out in 18 months]. It's a version of catch and kill. Tell journalists the truth but embargo it. They have to pretend they don't know it.They often run cover for their sources. Way too obvious case: Maggie Haberman with Sarah Huckabee Sanders.For various reasons, these tendencies are much worse and less hidden during Republican administrations. Arguably this is mostly because Republican administrations are better at manipulating them, better at their care and feeding (and corrective punishments at times), and not because of ideological affinity, but that is not preferable!