"You idiots!" says Paul Krugman to the WaPo for losing Ezra Klein [View all]

Ezra Klein of Wonkblog is leaving the Washington Post. Not news, exactly — the impending move has been all over the blogs for a while. But now it’s official. And may I say respectfully to the Post: You idiots!

You see, Ezra and his team filled a huge gap. That gap exists throughout the news media, although the Times has, I believe, largely closed it in other ways. But it was especially severe at the Post.

Here’s the problem: When you’re covering policy, the usual tools of journalism — cultivating sources, pounding the pavement, pulling out the Rolodex — just won’t cut it. You have to have people who actually understand the policy issues — people who can pound a spreadsheet, or whose Rolodex includes academic experts as well as DC flacks.

Otherwise what you get at best is he-said-she-said reporting — what I mocked many years ago as responding to claims that the earth is flat with the headline “Views differ on shape of planet.” Or, even worse, you rely on people who seem like authority figures because of their style or their official position, but are in reality just guys with an agenda, and often completely untrustworthy.

more at link: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/21/the-washington-post-is-de-kleining/?_php=true&_type=blogs&module=BlogPost-Title&version=Blog%20Main&contentCollection=Opinion&action=Click&pgtype=Blogs®ion=Body&_r=0

I am so loving Dr. K today!