Politico Hires Name-Calling Journo Fired From Yahoo!

In the world of journalism, no bad deed goes unrewarded. Take the case of former Washington bureau chief for Yahoo! News, David Chalian. You may recall that he was fired after he was heard saying during the Republican National Convention that Republicans were “happy to have a party with black people drowning.” He may have been fired from Yahoo! for this ignorant statement, but now he’s been hired by Politico.

You’ll recall that the Republican convention started in the midst of a full-blown hurricane, a storm some feared would again swamp New Orleans. Of curse the Old Media was filled with reminiscences of Hurricane Katrina and worries for New Orleans’ minorities was again everywhere. Speculation that the GOP would cancel its convention was also ubiquitous.

The GOP did postpone its opening day, but decided not to cancel the whole show and this caused some left-wing tongues in the Old Media to start wagging that Republicans were obviously racist. Cue David Chalian who was heard on an open mic perpetrating that very calumny.

On August 28, while in an ABC control room, Chalian unleashed his hateful charge, saying: “They’re not concerned at all. They are happy to have a party with black people drowning.”

Yahoo! News fired Chalian almost immediately for that inflammatory remark, as well they should have.

But now, Politico has hired the disgraceful journo to help expand its video operations.

So, why hire a man that Politico knows ahead of time is hateful and bigoted and has admitted with his words and deeds that he is wholly sold out to one side of the political aisle and cannot be expected to be fair in his coverage of the news?

He said he’s sorry. See? Problem solved.

Politico Editor-in-Chief John Harris admits that he was informed ahead of time about Chalian’s bias, but it won’t be a problem.

“David screwed up, admitted he screwed up and paid the price of losing his job for screwing up. He certainly would have been held accountable for the lapse in judgment had he been on the POLITICO staff at the time,” Harris told POLITICO. “He’s made clear that remark did not reflect his personal views or professional standards. This is a journalist who carries with him more than a decade of accomplishment and a well-earned reputation for fairness. We do not believe that lapse in one moment negates a reputation held in high regard by political professionals in both parties. He’s superbly well-qualified to help us achieve a strategic goal that is very important for POLITICO.”

Really? All it takes is an apology and the Old Media establishment forgives everything? We could probably count on one finger the number of Republicans who have gotten in trouble of their own making, apologized for it, and was later accepted back with open arms by the media. Or maybe no fingers would better reflect the list?

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