Shamed and fired, he retreated from the literary world. A few years later, Jayson Blair, a reporter at the New York Times, was fired when it was discovered he fabricated and plagiarized multiple stories. In the aftermath, the managing and executor editors at the Times resigned.
Both scandals rocked the news and journalism communities, yet what a difference 15 years and a threat to the political status quo make, as Michael Wolff becomes the new international darling of fabulist reportage with "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House."
The story is meant to be an exposé of a chaotic Trump White House, filled with whiney, gossipy aides who think the president dumb and churlish. Even Ivanka Trump is a turncoat, but a dumb one (of course). The books ends up as graffiti, paying homage to every fabulous fantasy of a cosmopolitan smart-set drowning in their fear and loathing of the president.
Rushed to publication after its target complained it was chock-full of falsehoods and untruths, we learn on page 10 of the prologue that ... it's chock-full of not the truth. Mr. Wolff admits in this note he's not sure what's true and what isn't. He explains, being generous, that he's leaving it to the reader to decide. He also confesses he, "settled on a version of events I believe to be true."
Comment: That pretty much sums it up. It's why "Fake News" is such an apt name for the MSM. All that matters is that you print something, because first impressions will make their mark regardless of later retractions. "Putin killed my baby", and all that... Even if Wolff's book is 100% made up, it doesn't matter, because it has reinforced the feelings of Trump's critics. And that's all that matters these days: feelz not facts.
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