Ezra Klein: 'There Still Might Be' a JournoList

Tom Bevan and Carl Cannon take Ezra Klein for a spin in the latest edition of RealClearPolitics’ “Morning Commute.” The duo has posted several clips of their interview with Klein, but one this morning is particularly strange. They ask Klein about JournoList, the email group Klein ran several years ago that often served to coordinate coverage among left-leaning members of the media. Does such a group still exists, Cannon wonders?

Klein evades the question throughout. His first response is to rebuke Cannon for believing in “conspiracy theories”–never mind that the original JournoList was, in fact, the rare case of a conspiracy theory being true. 

Then he says, “I’m not involved anymore, and if there’s–I think there still might be–there are a shit-ton of email listservs around this town,” before contending, bizarrely, that JournoList never coordinated anything.

“I hated JournoList by the end,” he adds, “I hated it so much. I spent all my time moderating flame wars on the list.” Klein mocks the idea that journalists, who want to be the first to break a story, would coordinate stories. 

Cannon retorts: “You underestimate how partisan some of our colleagues are.” Klein disagrees: journalists are “cynical.” 

Cannon tries once more: does JournoList still exist? 

Klein: “Oh–I don’t run anything like that.”