Huffington Magazine Issue 41 | Page 65

BEYOND HOOKERS, HAMAS AND HAGEL story in a piece for Breitbart, his current employer. “As for the Menendez story, my original pieces focused on both the travel and the prostitution allegations,” Boyle told The Huffington Post in an email. “Breitbart News has chosen to focus on the influence peddling, crony capitalism and corruption issues. Senator Menendez is a Democrat, and he is being protected by what Andrew Breitbart used to call the Democrat Media Complex. If Senator Menendez were a Republican, the mainstream media would have been all over the story day one.” In addition to discussing the Menendez saga, Boyle also responded to several questions about the place conservative reporters occupy in the broader media universe and why, in his opinion, national media may not follow-up on some of the bigger controversies on the right. HuffPost agreed to include his responses in full, as per his request: “To your first question, yes. I believe you and I had a similar discussion when we talked about Operation Fast and Furious last summer when you interviewed me,” Boyle said. “How many times does new media need to beat the HUFFINGTON 03.24.13 “YOU CAN’T JUST STAY IN THE CONSERVATIVE BUBBLE.” mainstream establishment media to stories before they realize that the new media is better than they are? Fast and Furious. Solyndra. Weinergate. Occupy. Congressional insider trading. Crony Capitalism. Obamacare waivers in Pelosi’s district. JournoList. ACORN. Monica Lewinsky. Shall I go on?” “As for why, first off, reporters are often lazy,” Boyle continued. “Second, reporters naturally lean left politically. Which is fine — everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But they should be open about their politics and how it affects their work, rather than hiding it from their readers and their viewers. Everything from story selection to source building to how stories are framed are shaped by reporters’ personal politics. The mainstream media claims to be objective while pushing a liberal agenda as writ.” As for Erickson’s critique of conservative reporting, Boyle said, “I